School: Ballyconnell (B.)
- Location:
- Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: James Mulligan
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0967, Page 374
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- XML School: Ballyconnell (B.)
- XML Page 374
- XML “Old Houses”
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- When a man went to build a house 70 or 100 years ago his methods were diffferent from those of today. He had no cement, slates, or iles. He merely dug out a trench for the foundation, mixed a heap of mud, and clay and sometimes bog peat and it was from this mixture he made the walls, building them about 3 feet thick. He never built them higher than 12 feet, and they were left for about a week to set, and dry. He then selected a piece of bog oak for the wall plate.
He put on a thick bed of thatch. It was mostly oaten straw that was used for thatch. The windows were only about 2 feet wide, and the floors were all made of clay. The houses had only a kitchen and a room. Those houses were called '' Mud Wall Cabins'' but the wall of those houses were very(continues on next page)
- Informant
- James Reilly
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Agharaskilly, Co. Cavan
