School: Drumcoghill
- Location:
- Drumcoghill Lower, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: Bean Uí Iomaire
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0982, Page 272
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- XML School: Drumcoghill
- XML Page 272
- XML “Thatching a House”
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- Long ago people thatched their houses with rushes, reeds, or oaten straw. If a man wished to put on a bed of thatch, he must procure a stoppler, Wooden Hammer, and a very small rake.
He starts at the left-hand side of the house, and works towards the rigging. The pad made for saving his clothes when kneeling is called a "Wease". He then makes a stopple by twisting a piece of straw tightly together, and attaches it to the house by the use of the stoppler.
He then takes the scallop and bends it in two halves. He lays it across the stopple, and drives it home with the Wooden Hammer. The small rake is used for scraping down the loose straws.
When he comes to the rigging he must take extra good care to have it thatched closely together. Because at this place, the rain is most likely to beat in.
A bed of Wheaten Straw lasts(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Mrs A. Montgomery
- Gender
- Female
- Occupation
- Teacher
- Address
- Corr, Co. Cavan
