School: Mc Kelvey's Grove (roll number 9130)
- Location:
- Loughbrattoge, Co. Monaghan
- Teacher: Eva Campbell
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0942, Page 266
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- XML School: Mc Kelvey's Grove
- XML Page 266
- XML “Old Crafts”
- XML “Candle-Making”
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- Transcription guide »
You are not logged in, but you are welcome to contribute a transcription anonymously. In this case, your IP address will be stored in the interest of quality control.By clicking the save button you agree that your contribution will be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License and that a link to dúchas.ie is sufficient as attribution. - Long ago the people made candles of their own. They cut a certain kind of rush which grew by the sides of streams, and after steeping it in water, they stripped it off nearly all its peel or rind, leaving only a narrow rib from top to bottom to support the heart of the rush.
The hearts of a number of rushes prepared in this way were laid upon the grass to bleach, and were then carefully dried in the sun.
Meanwhile, the cottager collected all the scraps of meat, fat, bacon, and grease of every kind, and boiled them down to liquid tallow. Taking the dried rushes in his hands, he dipped them in the melted fat, then he took them out and when the tallow was cooled he dipped it again a number of times until the candle was ready for use.
A good rush was nearly two and a half feet long and it burned for about an hour.
