School: Newcastle
- Location:
- Newcastle, Co. Wicklow
- Teacher: Máire Ní Fhotharta
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0927, Page 222
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- XML “Old Houses”
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- The houses of long ago were mostly thatched houses. The thatch was procured from wheaten straw as it was very strong. Some of the old houses had settle beds and press beds in the kitchen. The press bed looked just like a press during the day, and it held the mattress and other bed-clothes and at night it was opened up and used as a bed. The settle bed was like a wooden sofa.
The fire - place was generally in the corner, or sometimes it was at the gable - wall or at the side wall. The chimney was made of clay and wattles. Some houses of former times had no chimney only a hole in the roof to let the smoke out. The houses in this locality had not fires in the centre of the floor.
The people had no glass in the windows because they had to pay tax on the glass, but any one that had a bull's eye or circular piece of glass inserted in the walls was exempted from tax. The floors were made of clay. Half doors were common in the district formerly, and some of them are to be seen yet.
Wood and turf were used in the district in former times. Rush lights were the(continues on next page)
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