School: Cloonmorris (roll number 12496)

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1. Care of the Feet

   

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   In my grandfathers time, the people went barefooted until they reached the age of twenty. Sometimes it happened that poor travellers went barefooted all their lives. At night it was customary for all the people to wash their feet, as they generally were very dirty after the whole day. The whole family washed their feet in the one basin of water, one after an other.

   When the washing was completed, the water was left to settle. Then a small sup was taken off the top. This was mixed with sulphur and every person in the house took a small portion of this mixture, prevent 'kertíns'. These were itchy lumps which came one the feet owing to bad blood, and they were very uncomfortable, especially when a person was very tired and went to bed. He was sure not to get any rest as he had to keep scratching them.

   Oftentimes people suffered from 'hacks' on the heal. They had a remedy for these. The got a piece of cobbler's wax and held a coal to it, and let the boiling wax drop into the hacks. Anyone who suffered from these was called 'Hacky heels.

   When a person had corns in the summer-time, [?] went out to the bog, and washed his feet in bog-water or wheeled turf in his bare feet. If he took them in winter he put a piece of fat bacon to them for a remedy

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. clothing and accessories (~2,403)
         1. shoes (~1,841)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Bridie Beirne

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   14

   Address

   Cloonmorris, Co. Leitrim

   Informant

   Patrick Kierwan

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   69

   Occupation

   Shoemaker

   Address

   Cloonageeher, Co. Longford