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Was Annaghdown parish populated during the time of Brian Boru and if so did the inhabitants ever hear of the great king? Well we know that St Brendan and St Briga with their communities lived in Annaghdown long before the times of Brian the brave. Dare we enquire how far back in time we can go regarding human habitation in this parish? We hit the jackpot way back in 1934 though few people knew about the discovery then, and perhaps not many know about it today. Remain in ignorance no longer for this is how it happened. At that time the local farmers were forced to try a variety of means available to them to eke out a living on their small holdings of land – not only by raising stock but by such enterprises as cultivating sugar beet or by selling turf, cabbages or potatoes. During the month of November 1934 potatoes were selling at 4d. per stone, butter at 1 shilling a lb., eggs at 2s. 6d. a score, hay at 25 shillings a cwt. while two year old heifers and bullocks would realise 46 each.

One hundred years ago at the end close of 1920, tensions were high across Ireland. November was a bloody month, with British Crown Forces intensifying their campaign of terror. The murder of Eileen Quinn from Kiltartan near Gort, a pregnant mother of four children, followed by the abduction and murder of Fr. Michael Griffin in Galway shocked the world. This was followed by `Bloody Sunday’ in which twenty individuals identified as British agents by Michael Collins and his comrades were targeted and fifteen killed. In revenge for these deaths, Auxiliaries and Black and Tans killed at least fourteen and injured dozens in and around Croke Park that afternoon. At the same time, two high-ranking IRA officers, Dick McKee and Peadar Clancy, as well as Clareman Conor Clune were being tortured by Auxiliaries in Dublin Castle. They had been picked up the night before having been betrayed by an informer. Their bodies were found the next day battered, bayoneted and shot to death. It was a big blow to the IRA, but morale was boosted a week later when at Kilmichael, Co. Cork, the 3rd West Cork Brigade ambushed an Auxiliary convoy, killing seventeen. On 29 November, possibly the most gruesome act of the conflict occurred with the abductions and brutal murders of the Loughnane brothers of Shanaglish near Gort by the Auxiliary Division of the RIC.

Next was the potato harvesting or ‘digging the potatoes’ as was the local term. The first thing was to have covering for the ‘spuds’ after digging to protect them from frost and rain. Different materials were used for this such as straw and sedge, but in my time it was ‘scraws’. These were the surface of certain parts of bogland. They were usually two foot square, cut with a sharp spade, allowed to dry a bit and brought by cart to the potato field. The potato was a very stable diet and was eaten by every household in Ireland in days gone by, even twice daily by the poorer families in the countryside. So great care was always taken to save and protect the crop. During our school going time we were given one week off to help pick the ‘spuds’. We dug our crop with horse and plough but I did see some of the smaller land owners in Addergoole dig them with spades. Digging by plough was done by ploughing out every second drill for a number of drills. Then the men (although I have seen women do the job too) would tie canvas bags round their legs and get down on their knees and search the ploughed drill for the ‘spuds’ and when found would leave them behind them for picking. Two drills were always put together that is to say four drills would make two lines of ‘spuds’. The cart was put on the horse and brought between the two lines for the pickers. The big spuds for human consumption were put into the cart and when filled were tipped into the pit. The local name for the pit in this area was a ‘hole’ of potatoes. Some two or three weeks after finishing the digging of the ‘spuds’ a covering of clay would be put on the pit of ‘spuds’ to protect them from severe frost during the winter. The clay covering was about five or six inches thick and well packed.

We are pleased to launch our podcast with an episode on Living in a Thatched House. Thatched houses are to be found dotted around the Irish countryside, and particularly in west Galway. Evelyn Stevens has lived in a thatched house in Annaghdown since the 1980s, and here she joins Paul Greaney to discuss the joys and challenges of living in a thatched cottage. This complements our recent videos John Joe Duggan: Thatching / Tuíodóireacht and Thatching at Cloonboo with Marika Leen.

Below are births registered in the Annaghdown townlands of Turloughmore Registration District between 1871 and 1875.