School: Cortown (roll number 3113)
- Location:
- Cortown, Co. Meath
- Teacher: Peadar Mac Gabhann
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0701, Page 072
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- XML School: Cortown
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- XML “The Care of the Feet”
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- People began to wear boots about the age of 13 or 14 - when they left school. That would be about sixty years ago. Before that they would not wear them until the age of 16. My informant a man about 80 never heard of people who never wore boots but, then he was a shoemaker in his young days. The children go barefoot in summer, some of them all through summer and others only on very warm days.
There is an old lady at present living in Kells who declares that the water in which feet have been washed is a cure for "pains", but as she is said to be slightly mad no one else has that belief. I never heard of any other belief or custom connected with it.
Boots are both made and repaired in Kells. In Kells there are three and one of these is suffering from paralysis (the informant mentioned above). This man, James Smyth, tells me his father was a shoemaker and his maternal grandfather a Duff of Donaghmore, Navan, Co. Meath. He is unable to go back further, he never heard. When asked to compare the numbers of shoemakers now with former times he referred to a gift of £20 subscribed by the journeymen shoemakers of Navan towards(continues on next page)
- Informant
- John Brady
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Cortown, Co. Meath
