School: Askill (roll number 5294)

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1. Food (continued)

   

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   In later times potatoes was the chief food. Buttermilk was used along with them as a wash-down. Some people partook of only one meal of potatoes or oatcake in the day. The potatoes when boiled were turned out on a road or wicker basked which allowed the water to drain off. The basket was then brought in and each member of the family sat around it in a circle. A wooden vessel called a noggin filled with buttermilk was given to each. This they placed on their left arm. The potatoes were stripped of their skins by the nail of the right thumb, eaten when peeled and washed down with a sup or sip of buttermilk at each mouthful.

   Oatmeal bread was a favorite and substantial meal. People could readily fast on one meal of it for twenty-four hours. Many men from this locally were known to walk from Ballyshannon to Derry city a distance of sixty miles without partaking of any other food till they reached there.

   There were two kinds of cakes made of oatmeal called oatcake and griddle cake. The griddle cake was the older form

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. products
      1. food products (~3,601)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Norah K. Travers

   Gender

   Female

   Informant

   Celia Travers

   Relation

   Grandparent

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   91

   Address

   Derryherk, Co. Leitrim