School: Coralstown (roll number 1314)

On this page

1. Touch Paper

   

   Share Share Post

   About one hundred years ago there were no matches and instead the people used what they called "touch paper" to light their pipes. They used to dissolve nitre in a dish of water and steep brown paper in it. When it was steeped it was taken out, dried thoroughly and put into their pockets. They also used to carry a small flint stone in their pockets. When they wanted to light their pipes they would tear off a bit of the paper strike the stone with a knife which would cause a spark and it would ignite the paper.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

2. Rattin Castle

   

   Share Share Post

   

   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.

   Rattin - about three miles from Coralstown school was once the residence of the Darcy family. In the days of Cromwell all their property was confiscated and the family scattered far and wide. Many weird stories are connected with Rattin Castle. The ghost of Rattin Castle, in the form of a black dog, always makes his appearance before the death of any member of the family. The story runs thus about four centuries ago when the

   (continues on next page)

   Save Cancel

   Transcription guide »

   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.

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Brendan Cleary

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   13

   Address

   Ballinla, Co. Westmeath

   Informant

   Thomas Cleary

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Ballinla, Co. Westmeath