School: Rossbrin, Béal Átha an Dá Chab (roll number 16079)
- Location:
- Rossbrin, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Cormac Mac Carrthaigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0288, Page 423
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- The houses of the olden days were low one storey buildings. The walls were made of stone and clay. The roofs were thatched. The thatch was wheaten straw. Straw thrashed by the modern thrashing machines would not do for thatching at all, because it is weakened by all the beating it gets.
The floors of the houses were made of clay.
There were a great many houses in the country that had but two rooms. One of the rooms was used as a bedroom, the other was used as a kitchen; there was generally a bed in the kitchen also.
The people of those days had not as many houses in which to store potatoes and such things as they have now, so they put potatoes and fish which was the chief food of the people of that time, under the beds.
In many places a cow was kept in the dwelling houses during the night.
The fireplace was at the gable end of the house.
On each side of the fireplace there was a hole in the wall called the "hob-hole" in which salt and such things were kept. There were larger holes in the wall called "oletts"
The windows of the houses of the olden days were generally small. The people had not any oil lamps to give them light in the night time, but they made lights for themselves.(continues on next page)
