School: Mullingar (Pres. Convent) (roll number 934)
- Location:
- An Muileann gCearr, Co. na hIarmhí
- Teacher: Sr. Brigid
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0736, Page 020
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- XML “Spinning”
- XML “Bleaching”
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- (continued from previous page)hand and even spinning was not easy work. When a spool of "yarn" was full it was wound on a hand reel to make a hank. It took two or three spools to make a hank.
- Certain kinds of weeds and grass were dried and burned - the ashes known as "weed ashes" had bleaching properties. Ashes were wetter and made by hands into little cakes - each having a hold in the centre. They were spread on boards and left to dry in the sun. When quite hard they were strung and hung in a dry corner until the yarn was ready to be boiled.
When the boiling took place - a few of the ash-balls were put into a clear fire and left there until they became red. They were then take[n] out, left to cool, and then [?] to powder and thrown into the pot of boiling water. Yarn was [?] put in and boiled. Pot was taken off fire, hanks removed but were not washed until they had cooled. Each hank was next taken - separately - and unraveled, and finally taken to the nearest river for a thorough washing.
