School: Tyrrellspass (2) (roll number 13743)
- Location:
- Tyrrellspass, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: Mrs Payne
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0731, Page 162
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Tyrrellspass (2)
- XML Page 162
- XML “Food in Olden Times”
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- Food in Olden Times
If you want to live you must eat. It is a job the first person and the last will have to do. To prepare food is one of the oldest customs and will be for ever as the last person will have to eat.The first people lives along by the sea and ate fish and eggs raw for they knew nothing about cooking. They had no appointed time for their meals but just ate when they felt hungry.Man then began to move inland and so had the benefit of killing wild animals and obtaining berries, fruit and roots also. They never cooked any food wither.The farmer then began to cut down the forests and till a piece of land and sow it. He then reaped crops such as:-corn and vegetables. He also reared useful animals such as the cow, which produced:- cheese, milk, butter and flesh. His wife used to bake an oatmeal cake on the griddle or hearth. People ate butter, cheese, and drank milk with bread. They knew nothing about potatoes or tea at this time at all. People dined three times a day, at breakfast, dinner and supper. They ate porridge. People did not eat half as often as they do now days.
A girl or boy had to go out and work very(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Ruth Johnston
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 11
- Address
- Tyrrellspass, Co. Westmeath
- Informant
- Miss Bridget Byrne
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 40
