A Churn

A churn is about three feet and a half in height and the bottom is about two feet, and the cap is about 18″.
The parts of a churn are, the churndash, churncup, lid, laths, screws, the rim, and the bottom. In Winter the people churn once a week, and in Summer twice a week. If a stranger comes in he says “God bless the work”, and he helps the people to do the churning. It is the man of the house who always churns. When the churning is made all the butter goes together in little lumps. The butter is taken off the milk with two butter pats which are made of wood. The buttermilk is used for making bread, and more of it is given to calves and pigs. It is not lucky to throw out water or give out milk or change the door when churning. There are many kinds of churns the plunge churn and the machine churn being the most common. The churndash is used for to beat the little bags of cream. Some churns in this district are over thirty years, and were made by the carpenters in the place. The butter is taken of the churn with two boards which are called pats.

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Place: Aillebrack, Co. Galway

Footnote: Duchas, http://www.duchas.ie