a number of big boys & girls out hurling in a field & all dressed alike & in their bare feet. Some of the young girls had light shoes called "cordorans which they wore on Sundays & when going to dances.

2.
Long ago people only wore boots on a Sunday going to Mass. They would carry them until they reached the church, then put them on & remove them again when they came out. It was perhaps that they found it more comfortable barefoot.