School: Lúbán Díge (Bodyke)
- Location:
- Bodyke, Co. Clare
- Teacher: Bríd, Bean Uí Chadhla
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0591, Page 348
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- XML “Candle-Making”
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- People here made candles (dip) from tallow got from goats, sheep, cows.
At first, a [?] wick was used but later strips of old corduroy or tween or old rags were used. These were fixed at the bottom of moulds and kept tight at top around something. The fat was melted in a Grisset which was a kind of pan made of iron and having a bead to it and poured into the mould, left to harden and then turned out.
I do not know if they made a supply of these at the time or not.
Some people got pieces of bog oak or bog deal and cut it into splinters and used them as for lighting.
Pat Willy, Bodyke, told me he saw made candles this way. A piece of stuff was got and dipped in the liquid fat and let cool. Then dipped again and cooled and continued till the right size was got.
Lamps
When the use of oil became known, people made the lamps from a bottle (pint) and fixed a wick thro a piece of tin kept in place by two pieces of sticks. The wick was lighted and they calculated the hour by the amount of oil used.
I remember to see one of these in my youth(continues on next page)
