Thatching. Thatching is a very common thing in this country. Nearly all the houses are thatched with rushes or straw and a few by flax or lint. The rushes have to be cut and tied up in bunches and left to wither. After a week or so the man of the house takes a ladder and cleans all the grass off the top of the house. He then takes the rushes or straw and starts to thatch the house. He puts it on lair after lair until he has the whole roof thatched. He then ties it well on with ropes and wire, so that if there comes a heavy storm it won't be able to lift the thatch. Mary R. McGonagle, Drung, Quigley's Point. County Donegal, 14th February, 1938.Ciaran Ward