School: Tulach Sheasta, Clochair na Trócaire
- Location:
- An Port Nua, Co. Thiobraid Árann
- Teacher: Sr Bertrand
Open data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- May 10th 1938
The following composition was written by Bridie Browne, Convent School, Newport. She received her information from James Bradshaw, who is 65 years of age, and who lives at Annaholty, Cragg, Birdhill.
Around the district of Newport, until after the famine of 1847, there was but little change in the mode of life of the people or in the wages of workmen. The peasants, except the few who had land enough to keep a cow, lived altogether on potatoes, with which, on rare occasions, they had a salt herring or two. Milk they could not get, for when - which was very seldom indeed - they could have afforded to buy it, the farmers would not sell it, as they wanted it to feed the calves.
The potatoes were boiled in a huge iron pot from which they were thrown into a big open-work wicker basket, shaped like the bowl of a spoon, this was placed over another large pot, or over a trough till the water was thoroughly drained off; the potatoes were then turned out in the middle of the table in a heap. There(continues on next page)- Collector
- Bridie Browne
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 16
- Informant
- James Bradshaw
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 65
- Occupation
- Farm-labourer
- Address
- Eanach Abhalta, Co. Thiobraid Árann