School: Gortloney (roll number 11978)

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1. Old Houses

   

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   Old Houses

   Written by Lillie Guirke, Dromone, 9th December, 1938

   My father told me that the houses which existed in this district in olden times were very different to what they are now. In those far off days very few slated houses were to be seen. They were thatched with rushes, straw, or sedge, or reeds. The straw was obtained from the oats, which had been previously threshed with a flail. The fires long ago used to be hearthstone fires, and they sued to be in the gable wall of the house. The chimneys used to be made of woven rods and blue clay.

   There were half-doors on nearly all the houses. The fires used to be lit with sticks and fuel, and rushes, and also mill-seeds. Sometimes they were lit with boráin.

   In the majority of cases the only light which the people used at night was that obtained from the kitchen fire. Sometimes rush-lights were used. These were made by peeling the skin off rushes, one narrow strip being left on for the sake of toughness, and

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. man-made structures
         1. buildings
            1. residential buildings (~2,723)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Lillie Guirke

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drumone, Co. Meath