School: Gleann Guail, Dúrlas Éile

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1. Threshing Day (continued)

   

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   to every person. If the farmer had a good day's threshing the men would have to get tea at 4'o clock
   About forty years ago it was not steam-engines that was in it, but a machine worked by four horses. This machine would only separate the corn from the straw. Another day it would have to go through the process of winnowing and this was done by a winnowing machine to take the chaff off the corn, and the poor people uses this chaff for mattresses for beds.
   Farther back than that again the people had only a flail for threshing, and this was made of timber and a bit of leather tying them together which was called a "gad." This threshing was done on the barn floor by one man who was employed during the whole winter. They used to winnow it on a windy day. They had a thing like a basket called a sieve and they used to pill it with the corn and shake it through easy and the wind would blow the chaff off it and the corn would lodge on a winnowing sheet.
   The people used to hold a dance the night of the threshing long ago, but they do not keep that custom now.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Thomas Kiely

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   New Birmingham, Co. Tipperary