In the olden times the people grew their own wheat, oats, rye, and maize to make bread. The grain was sent to the local mills to be ground. Before eighteen hundred and seventy nine there were five mills around here, three in Rathangan, one in Pluckerstown, and one in Milltown. Before the mills were built the farmers had querns in their houses, to grind the corn.
The kinds of bread made were wheaten bread, oaten bread, rye bread, maize bread, potato bread and boxty bread. Buttermilk was used to mix the meal but in poor houses they mixed it with water only. To make the wheaten, rye, and maize bread the meal was mixed with buttermilk, salt and soda were added. The boxty cake was made of grated