School: Ferbane (Convent)
- Location:
- Ferbane, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: Sr. Patrick
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0813, Page 449
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- XML School: Ferbane (Convent)
- XML Page 449
- XML “Churning”
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- We have a churn at home which can hold seven gallons of milk. It is one and a half foot high. It is a foot wide top and bottom. There are two round sides and two straight sides on it. It is two years old. The parts of it are:- barrel, lid, dash, handle and two screws. There is a hole in the side of it to let the butter-milk out when it is churned. A wooden cork is kept in the hole.
Butter is made twice a week in Summer and once a week in Winter according to the amount of milk the cows give.
My mother generally does the churning. When strangers come in during the churning they say: "God bless the work", and they turn the handle of the churn a couple of times. In times gone by there were people who were able to take butter by means of a charm: so the handle is turned to break the charm. It takes us from half an hour to an hour to churn. The churning is done by turning a handle and the churn-dash turns around inside.
Some people have what is called "end-over-end" churns. There is a piece of glass on(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Mary Josephine Kenny
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Ferbane, Co. Offaly
