Luke's Story

I went to school in in 1935. My teacher was a Mrs Hastings. Irish was the most she taught and plenty of the cane on the hand. We got a half hour to play at 12 o’clock. We played ball and ate our lunch. We walked a mile and a half to school in our feet. We brought three sods of turf under our arm every morning and it wore the sides of my jackets and clothes were not plentiful in them days. I had big lumps on the soles of my feet from the road. It wasn’t too bad until the priest, the examiner, came to see had we the catechism. He’d ask us to say it off by heart and we’d shiver and shake. He was no joke either.

Farming – the way it was done

Around the 17th of March each year farming began the traditional way to sow spuds. First you form the ridges by turning the “feribean” then you spread the farm yard manure on the ridges. Lay the spud on the farm yard manure that was produced by the cattle on the farm. When the stalks appeared you dig the soil and moled them. They always sow oats to provide food for the cattle in the winter which was trashed in September. There was always great excitement when the thrasher came to each haggard.

Writer: Luke McLoughlin

Teller: John McLoughlin (Grandad)

The original hand written story is available below