School: Headfort
- Location:
- Virginia, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: Miss J.E. Browne
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0999, Page 150
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- In olden times the people were much healthier than they are now.
They ate only three meals a day - the breakfast, dinner and tea and supper which latter were only one meal. They usually ate Indian porridge or potatoes for breakfast. The dinner consisted, for the very lowly, of potatoes and buttermilk and for supper noggins of sweet milk or butter-milk were handed round and the diners gathered round the pot of "stirabout". Tea, in those days was considered a delicacy and was only taken on Christmas day as also was beef, mutton etc.
Nettles were often eaten as cabbage for dinner. Oaten bread was usually eaten with concannon and milk. A peculiar old dish consisted of mashed potatoes with stirabout, sprinkled with chopped garlic as a sauce.
In later times tea became very common and some old people in this (Lislea) district flavoured it with whiskey.
- Collector
- Maureen O Connell
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Lislea, Co. Cavan
