School: Sliabh na Cille (roll number 14513)

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1. Digging the Potatoes (continued)

   

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   piece of wood to which a digging iron is attached. The blacksmith makes the iron and any handy man can join the handle and the iron together. When the farmer begins to dig, he stands in the furrow between two ridges. Then he turns the sod into the furrow and he sees the potatoes embedded in the soil. He picks the good potatoes into the bucket and he leaves the small potatoes on the ridges to be picked up later and carried home. These small potatoes are called "poirins" (pronounced pó-yeens). When the farmer has the bucket filled he places them in the creel. When the creel is filled, he takes it to the place where he intends to make a heap.

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2. Heaping the Potatoes

   

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   When the farmer is going to make a heap of potatoes, he selects first a suitable place. He levels the ground - usually a portion of the garden he has dug. Then he spreads rushes on place that he has levelled. He places the potatoes on the rushes. Each creel as it is full is carried to the new heap and the work is continued in this way until the garden is dug. When he has all dug he puts rushes on the top of the potatoes. Then he gets a shovel and he places clay on top of the rushes to keep out the frost and snow. The children come in the evenings and they pick the "poirins" (small potatoes) from the earth. They bring buckets with them for this purpose. The small potoates are placed in a bag and carried home. These small potatoes are given to pigs or boiled

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

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