School: Gortloney (roll number 11978)
- Location:
- Gortloney, Co. Meath
- Teacher: Eoghan de Buitléir
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0716, Page 184
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- XML School: Gortloney
- XML Page 184
- XML “The Potato Crop”
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- The Potato CropWritten by; Patrick Guirke, Knocklough, 23rd Feb, 1938Farmers who have ploughs and horses in this locality plant their potatoes in drills. Those who have no plough or who have rocky soil make ridges with a spade. These spades are not made locally. Formerly wooden spades were used. The wooden spades were used. The wooden was called a loy. I am told that some years ago starch was made in Belleek. This was used for stiffening collars and shirts.
At present the potatoes are used for dinner purposes, for potato bread, and boxty bread. When the potatoes grow up the stalks are sprayed once or twice in July to prevent the blight.
They are dug out in autumn with spades and picked by boys and girls. The spade used is like this (Picture drawn on page). They are taken home and pitted in the haggard. The pit is long and narrow and covered with long scraws to exclude the frost and rain. They are not stored in lofts in this district,(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Patrick Guirke
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Knocklough, Co. Meath
