Family Meals

Margaret Heagney 21^st July 2017 Deerpark Social Services Centre, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Family Meals

Interviewer: Clare Doyle (CD)

Interviewee: Margaret Heagney (MH)

CD: And hoe many of you were in the family?

MH: There were four of us, two boys and two girls

CD: Right, so there were a lot of mouths to feed?

MH: There was, there was. There were the six of us, but I’ll tell you this, my father, God rest him never ate a dinner and he lived til 93!

CD: And what would he eat during the day?

MH: Now, what he’s have when he’d be sitting down to have the dinner, he’d be sitting at the head of the table and his mug would be there and he’d have tea and bread. Now he wouldn’t take butter either on the bread. Maybe a little grain of sugar.

CD: Right

MH: But he’d eat meat till it came out in his eyes if you had it! Usually bacon. And if there was a piece over, we had no fridge that time, but if there was a piece left over he’d say “put that into the press now for my evenings tea”.

CD: Right, and he’d have it with the bread?

MH: The meat with another bit of bread and the grain of sugar on it

CD: And that’s what he ate?

MH: That’s what he ate three times a day and lived til 93. And his memory was 110%. It was brilliant.

CD: And would he ever have had porridge or anything in the morning?

MH: Yes, the little skillet pot was put on the fire and the porridge was made

CD: The porridge was made in the same oul pot every morning?

MH: We all had a bowl of porridge going out to school