School: Ardagh (roll number 15035)

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1. The Care of the Feet

   

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   Long ago the people used to begin to wear boots at the age of ten years. There are no accounts of people who never wore boots. The children at present go barefooted in Summer but not all the year round. The water you wash your feet is thrown out but not at night because the old Irish believed that there are spirits going about through the street at night. And if you throw out the water you might throw it on them. There are no customs or beliefs connected with the water that the people washes their feet with. Boots are repaired locally. There were plenty of shoe-makers in this district long ago. They all died and nobody took up the trade. Long ago when the people used to be going to the old chapel they used to carry their shoes as far as it and then they used to put them on. And when they would come out they used to take them off. They used to do the same when they would be going to town. Clogs were made and worn locally. Leather was never made in this district long ago. They used to make the leather out of the skins of the cattle. Foot coverings were made with special kind of leather and were worn. Some shoes were made with very fine leather. Once upon a time there was a man and he had boots for twenty years and at the end of that time he could shake the dust out of them. He used to grease them with frog's lard and the heart of the docking leaf. They used to wear single tied brogs

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. clothing and accessories (~2,403)
         1. shoes (~1,841)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Brigid Keegan

   Gender

   Female

   Informant

   Mrs Mary Keegan

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Drumroe, Co. Longford