School: Mullach Buí (roll number 2793)
- Location:
- Castletowncooley, Co. Louth
- Teacher: Micheál De Búrca
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0658, Page 262
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- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- (continued from previous page)Saturday I give a helping hand myself. At first the potatoes are put in pits and are covered with straw to let them sweat, and later they are covered with soil. All the potatoes we need at home are taken home and put in a barn, and we sell the remainder to the farmers down on the low lands. The farmers down on the low lands have found out that the seed from this district has made a profitable change for them. The principal varieties of potatoes grown in this district are Kerr's pinks, Arran Banners, Arran Consuls, and Great Scots. Arran Banners give the heaviest yield, but they are not as good as Kerr's Pinks for table use. Long ago country people when short of starch, used to get a few potatoes and grate them into pulp and strain off the liquid and allow it to evaporate, and then pure starch would be left behind. At present there is an alcohol factory in the townland, and this factory pays a fair price to the farmers for any potatoes they can spare. The alcohol prepared from the potatoes is mixed with petrol and is used as fuel for driving engines. The factory also delivers at a cheap price the stillage, which is considered a valuable food for cattle and pigs.
Margaret M Finegan,
Castlecarra,
Riverstown,
Dundalk.
6:12:1937
- Collector
- Margaret M. Finegan
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Castlecarragh, Co. Louth
