School: Fearnaght (roll number 2415)

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1. Travelling Folk

   

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   There are a lot of travelling folks going about the district. They go by the name of "tinkers" or "gipsies". They go about to people's houses selling delph and tins and other articles. They buy the delph in the local towns and the men of them make the tins. They camp along the side of the road in tents. They have no food except what they beg but some of them are able to buy a little. They are very poor and when they go to the people's houses they ask for bread, bacon, flour, milk and other things. They are not very welcome to the houses. The men put bottoms in gallons and sweep chimneys. The ones that sweep the chimneys are called "sweeps". The majority of them that are about are the Mc.Donaghs, the McCauleys and the Heanys. They do not stay in people's houses at any time. They steal things sometimes. Long ago there were travelling people too but they weren't like the ones now. Chrison Donnelly was one; he had a lot of goats and horses. He used to put down a big fire on top of a heap of stones and lie beside it all night.
   Johnny Harrick was an old blind man; he used to go along the road and sometimes he used to go into people's houses and sit on

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. agents (~1)
      1. people by social grouping
         1. travellers (~3,023)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Lucy Mc Dowell

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Errew, Co. Leitrim

   Informant

   Mr G. Lloyd

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Aghamore, Co. Leitrim