School: Drumkilly
- Location:
- Drumkilly, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: Owen Mc Govern
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0989, Page 332
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- Forges
In ancient Ireland the blacksmith was regarded as an important person because he made all the implements of war and at all feasts and entertainments he sat near the king.The black-smith was nearly always given privileges.Sometimes he had not to pay any rent for his forge or he had not to pay the heavy taxes that other people had to pay.
Nowadays the blacksmith is not as important a man because many implements are made by machinery.
In the parish of Crosserlough there are six forges.One in Clarboy,one in the townland of Crosserlough,one in Creamfield and one in Kill,while in the village of Kilnaleck there are two.
The forge in Clarboy has been owned by the family of the Lynches for the past ten generations.It has been newly roofed with iron.The door is oblong in shape but on some forges the door is shaped like a horse shoe.The furniture of the forge consists of a little iron table called an anvil which is situated on the middle of the floor ,a cement trough in which is kept water for cooling horse shoes and other things when they are made,and a wooden bench on which are kept the blacksmith's tools.
The blacksmith is not always as strong a man as the one painted in "The Village Blacksmith"who was a "mighty man with large and sinewy hands"
