School: Coill an tSrotha (roll number 5352)

On this page

1. Churning

   

   Share Share Post

   We have a churn at home which is about three feet high and is of a round shape. This churn is over twenty years old. In the townland of Ardvarney there are three or four churns in which milk is churned once or twice a week. The various parts of hose churns are the lid, the dash, and staves. During the summer butter is made twice a week and in winter it is only made once a fortnight.

   If a stranger comes in while the people of the house are churning he has to take a "brash" because it is said that if this is not done he brings all the luck of the butter with him. The churning was done by hand long ago but nowadays the people get churning machines made by the carpenters which are worked by foot.

   In winter it takes a person over an hour and in summer it takes a person only a half an hour to churn. When the churn dash is clean and no track of milk on it it is a good sign that the milk is churned perfectly. Hot water is put into the milk when churning in the winter and in summer cold water is put in. When butter was made the woman would take it up in a wooden dish which was called a "caupin" and they mixed with a butter spade which was made from wood.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. agriculture (~2,659)
            1. butter and churns (~3,280)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Thomas Mc Gourty

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   77

   Address

   Ardvarney, Co. Leitrim