School: Carpenterstown (Templefanum) (roll number 5415)
- Location:
- Carpenterstown, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: Mary Smyth
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0722, Page 133
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- Boots and shoes were worn to keep the feet warm and to save them from stones and thorns. In olden times people seldom wore boots or shoes, except on Sundays when they went to Mass. They usually carried the shoes to the church door where they put them on before entering. This was to save the boots and because they walked better without them.
Young and old went barefoot in those days. In this district there were people named Fagan who did not wear boots until they were very old and there was also a man named Seamus Dobson who wore his first pair of boots on his wedding day. Nowadays some children go barefoot in Summer and other wear shoes. In olden times feet were washed outside in Summer and in side in Winter. The water used in washing them was never thrown out at night as it was believed that perhaps some soul was spending its Purgatory upon earth and the water might be thrown out on top of it. So the water was always kept until the following morning and then thrown out. There were five(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Eileen Shields
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Mrs Mc Guin
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 64
- Address
- Hilltown, Co. Westmeath
