School: Mercy Convent
- Location:
- Belturbet, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: The Sisters
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0972, Page 145
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- XML School: Mercy Convent
- XML Page 145
- XML “Churning”
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- Churning
We have six cows and we send some of the milk to the creamery and churn the rest. Our churn is about ten years old and is of the old-fashioned kind. It is three feet in height. The width of the top of the churn is eighteen inches and the bottom is twenty-four inches. The sides are round.
The different parts of the churn are called the lid, the dash, the joggler, the crib, the top, the bottom and the handles. The lid is used for beating the milk up and down so as to change the milk into butter. The joggler is for putting over the dash in order not to let out the milk between the lid and the dash. The patties or clappers are used for shaping the butter.
We churn once a week in summer and once a fortnight in Winter. We all help with the churning and it takes about an hour. If anyone comes in when the churning is going on they help with it because it is said if they did not they would take away all the butter in their pockets. The churning is done by hand and the churn dash is always moved(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Kathleen Mc Cabe
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Ballinlough, Co. Cavan
