School: Castletowngeoghegan (C.) (roll number 2093)
- Location:
- Castletown Geoghegan, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: C. Ní Chonaire
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0734, Page 417
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- (continued from previous page)taken home and dried on hurdles with a large fire under it. While it was drying a number of people were breaking it with a club of wood called 'Washtaffs'. It was stored up until the following day. Some girls would beat it with light beetles to take off the shoves. Then it would be made into the knots until a man called a Hackler would come to clean and tease it, and divide the tow from the good flax. This tow was spun for coarse cloth for making winnowing sheets for winnowing corn. About thirty years ago a man named Thomas Dillon used to make brushes from horse-hair. He used to get a flat piece of board shaped like the brushes that are in use now. Then he used to get a small gimlet and bore the holes very close to each other and then he used to cut the horse-hair about two inches long and fasten it with fine wire through the holes, and then seal it at the back with another piece of board with very small brass sprigs. Long ago there was a brog-maker in Streamstown named James Dillon. He sewed the brogues with leather fongs and soled and heeled them with wooden pegs. Those pegs are still used in factories with brass pins to make men's boots.(continues on next page)
