Food related extract from interview with Margaret (Peg) Cleary, Dangan taken from Killererin - A Parish History

 

The following article has been put together for our Gastronomy Galway 2018 project.  Peg passed away on 25th August, 2003. Most of the interviewees for our Parish History book were from a farming background and the common themes throughout are diet, threshing, stations, killing the pig, going to fairs etc. I hope you enjoy reading these extracts and that you get a sense of what life was like for past generations in this locality.

Margaret saw the bad times and the good times, worked hard and reared seven children. To pass the time, she did crafts, mostly knitting and crochet. A spinning wheel was in the kitchen, with bags of wool to make thread for knitting. Margaret crocheted caps, quilts, scarves and collar cuffs. People used to patch and sew their own trousers and darned their socks……

Margaret remembers that a basket of eggs would buy groceries and there would still be some change left over. Gannon’s was a shop in Tuam that would come to the house once a week.

You could get nice cakes in Galway for Christmas and parties. Margaret remembers Christmas was wonderful; The family would attend Mass and eat special foods and have special drinks. They had parties at harvest time with music and dancing.

The full interview can be read on Pps 424 – 425 of Killererin – A Parish History which is available for purchase elsewhere on this site.