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Old Houses
Long ago the houses were built of wood. The builders drove strong poles arranged close together deep into the ground and filled up the spaces between the poles with wicker-work. They plastered the walls with clay and white washed them on the outside. Roofs were made of thatch and were shaped like a cup. In those houses the fire was in the centre of the floor the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. It was not usual to have more than one room in the house. Large houses had two or more doors. They had small beds called push beds.
John Duffy,
Convent View,
Tullamore.