School: Rathcoyle, Kiltegan

On this page

1. Old Houses (continued)

   

   Share Share Post

   (continued from previous page)

   The roof was made of rushes or of straw. The thatch was got on mountains or on bogs. There were no slated roofs except in places near a slate quarry. Most of the old houses or cabins had only one apartment. In some of those old houses the beds were on the kitchen floor by the back wall. On some of those houses there were no chimneys, only a round hole in the thatched roof to let the smoke out. Only a small amount of the smoke got out through the roof. It came through the doorway or window. Some old houses had no windows only a square hole in the wall. This hole was filled with boards at night. The floors of those houses were made of clay or large flat stones. In this district half-doors are still very common. The fire consisted of peat or wood which was procured in the surrounding district. The candles used by the people of this district in olden times were made from rushes. The rushes were peeled, dipped in grease, and hung up to dry.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

2. Old Houses

   

   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.

   In olden times the roofs of the houses were thatched with straw. The walls consisted of

   (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.

   Topics

   1. objects
      1. man-made structures
         1. buildings
            1. residential buildings (~2,723)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   William O' Rourke

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cornan East, Co. Wicklow