School: Baile an Gharrdha (B.) (roll number 13210)
- Location:
- Baile an Gharraí, Co. Thiobraid Árann
- Teacher: Tomás Lotrail
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0563, Page 239
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- People used to make their own butter before the creameries became general. Every farmer had a churn of his own and he used to get firkins made to put the butter in. There were a couple of coopers in every parish. The coopers in this parish were the Walsh's of Jessfield. William Walsh the present man is a cooper, his father Thomas Walsh and his grandfather were coopers. The firkins used to be made of poplar with sally hoops. The new milk used to be put in a barrel with a tap in the bottom of it so that the buttermilk or separated milk could flow out and the cream be left. Then the cream was put in the churn to be made into butter. The churn used to be thoroughly cleaned and scrubbed before being used. When the butter was made it used to be washed with water taken from a special spring and then salted. When it was hard enough it was put in the firkin. When every farmer had all his firkins full he used to take it to the butter-market in Kilkenny. There used to be a hundred weight of butter in every firkin and the lids used to be put on temporarily so as they could be taken off easily when being judged by the judges. The butter used to be judged in the following way. The judge used to put a kind of corkscrew on(continues on next page)
