Food related extract from interview with Christina Mannion, taken from Killererin - A Parish History

 

The following article has been put together for our Gastronomy Galway 2018 project.  Christina has just recently passed away. 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.

Christina was born Christina Kelly in 1931. She describes a typical house of the time as being a thatched house consisting of 2 bedrooms and a kitchen with an open fire. There were no indoor toilets in those days. An open fire was used for all the cooking.  Vegetables such as turnips and carrots were boiled on the hearth and bread was also baked on the open fire. The kitchen had an open dresser in which cups, saucers, plates and cutlery were kept. ……………….

Women as well as men were always busy on the farm. They would dig spuds (potatoes) with a spade and went to the bog to save the turf and bring it home by horse and cart. Neighbours used to help each other…….

Food was simple – spuds, carrots, turnips and onions. That’s all people had all week. For luxuries, women bought flour and made currant cakes on the hearth. These were usually for Christmas and special occasions. Everyone had their own own milk straight from the cows. ……..

The full interview can be read on Pps. 433 – 444 of Killererin – A Parish History, which is for sale elsewhere on this site.