School: Clonlara
- Location:
- Cloonlara, Co. Clare
- Teacher: Dll. Ó Heoghanáin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0585, Page 104
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- XML School: Clonlara
- XML Page 104
- XML “The Churn”
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- The making of butter in the home though still fairly general is not practised to the same extent as it was in olden times, due to the erection of modern Creameries.
Almost every farmer had his churn years ago. It was made of wood, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. The size depended on the number of cows the farmer possessed. In Summer butter is usually made three time a week as the cream would get sour, but in Winter once or perhaps twice.
The woman of the house usually makes the churn. There a a great man superstitions in connection with the making of butter. If a stranger comes into the house during the operation he is expected to take a "dreas" at the churning. If he does not do so he is regarded, with superstition as trying to take the butter.
There is also a belief that if a man has a spring well in his land and the first water is taken out of it after midnight on May Eve, by another person who washed the butter with it, the latter will have the butter which the owner of the well would otherwise have.
My mother told me a story about a priest's housekeeper who was an expert butter maker. After(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Josie Moloney
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Cloonlara, Co. Clare
- Informant
- Mrs John Moloney
- Relation
- Parent
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 65
- Address
- Cloonlara, Co. Clare
