References to food in Galway

Information taken from the Duchas Website - Schools’ Folklore Collection. I-100

Clare Doyle

1. Food Galway (308) Making Boxty

The process of making boxty involved cleaning potatoes well and scrubbing off the skin and ‘scraping’ before adding to cloth to wring out the excess water. A scraper could be made from a piece of tin with a rough side. The scraped potatoes could be added to some already boiled potatoes along with some salt and flour and baked on a griddle. As flour was expensive for a time in the area, only small amounts were used in the recipe.

Skehaghard, Co. Galway

Collector: Maura Clarke, Skehard, Creggs, Co. Galway

Informant: Mrs Clarke

Bread, flour, griddle, scraping, potatoes, tin, salt, cooking

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie.

2. Food Galway (308) Flumery Oatmeal

Sometimes if milk was in short supply in the area, oatmeal could be soaked overnight in water to make ‘flumery’. This was then used instead of buttermilk in oatmeal bread. If there was a small amount of milk available ‘sweadeen’ could be made by adding milk and sugar to the oats

Skehaghard, Co. Galway

Collector: Maura Clarke, Skehard, Creggs, Co. Galway

Informant: Mrs Clarke

Oatmeal, flumery, buttermilk, soaked, bread, sweadeen, oats, traditional, cooking

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

3. Food Galway (308) Brútán Neantóg

Brútán Neantóg was made by collecting nettles and boiling them to make a kind of liquid soup. It was thought that if this mixture was consumed then that person would not experience any sickness during the year. This was said to be especially true if consumed in the month of March.

Creggs, Co. Galway

Collector: Peter Maguire, Fairfield, Co. Galway

Informant: Patrick Maguire

Brútán Neantóg, Nettles, tin, cures

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

4. Food Galway (308) Boxty Bread

In Creggs, Boxty was made from black potatoes that were scraped using a piece of tin with holes in it. The tin was fastened to a board and the potatoes scraped into a basin underneath. They were then transferred to a cloth and all of the water was squeezed out. Flour or oatmeal was added to the dried mixture and it was combined and baked on a griddle.

Creggs, Co. Galway

Collector: Peter Maguire, Fairfield, Co. Galway

Informant: Patrick Maguire

Boxty, potatoes, griddle, basin, baking, cookery

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

5.Food Galway (308) Making Bread

War-time shortages in the area meant that white flour was not readily available. Some could not eat black flour and people used oatmeal or Indian meal to make bread. It was made from a mixture of flour, Indian meal and bran and cooked on a griddle as there were no pans or stoves. The meal was initially grind between two stones

Creggs, Co. Galway

Collector: Angie Kelly, Creggs, Co. Galway

Informant: William Keaveney, Creggs, Co. Galway

Indian Meal, griddle, oats, porridge, bran, pan, stove, flour, grind, war, cookery

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

6. Food Galway (308) Boxty mixture

To make boxty, cold [uncooked] potatoes were peeled and grated and squeezed in a cloth. Boiled potatoes, flour and salt were added and rolled out on a board for cooking on a griddle

Creggs, Co. Galway

Collector: Angie Kelly, Creggs, Co. Galway

Informant: William Keaveney, Creggs, Co. Galway

griddle, cloth, potatoes, peeled, grated, squeezed, rolled, cookery

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

7. Food Galway (308) Mealtimes

People ate two meals a day – in the morning and evening. Often working men had to work before their breakfast. Wealthy people (those who could afford to grow wheat on their land) ate wholemeal bread and milk for breakfast while poor people ate oaten bread. If they were very poor and oaten bread was not available, then potatoes and buttermilk were eaten for breakfast and dinner. Rich people could also afford a pig which could be killed at the end of the year. Sometimes this meat was shared with a neighbour. When the women were cooking the potatoes, the men would go to the lakes to catch fish. They would make a float from rushes so that they could stand. Sometimes if the fishing was very good there would be enough fish for the evening meal too. In one house in Milltown where an old lady was having the station mass, tea was served to the priest and this was a great occurrence as it was the first-time tea was available. There were no cups, and ‘into mugs she poured the tea’.

Fartamore, (Brooklawn), Co. Galway

Collector: Ide Ní Mhanghain

Informant: James Mangan, Liskeevy, Milltown, Co. Galway

Tea, fish, potatoes, cooking, pig, buttermilk, oats, bread, wholemeal, rushes, mass, mugs

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

8. Food Galway (308) Meals people ate

Wealthy people made their bread with wheaten flour while poor people used oaten flour. Boxty or potato cake was also popular. A board was used for baking the bread called a maide ráin. A griddle pan was also used.

Fartamore, (Brooklawn), Co. Galway

Collector: Maighréad Ní Dhuinn

Informant: Mrs Dunne

oats, boxty, potato, flour, wheat, griddle, bread

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

9. Food Galway (308) Meals people ate

Many people regularly ate wholemeal and oaten bread, boxty and potato cake. For November night boxty was a tradition and Christmas night potato cakes. Bread would be made on the table or on a board 2 or 3 inches thick and it was baked in a griddle or on a griddle iron or maide ráin, the latter used for oaten bread and the former for wheaten bread. The grid iron was square with 2 side bars and 10 cross ways supported by 4 legs. Oaten bread was also baked standing against the fire using 2 sticks, with a 3rd to hold them up making the shape of an ‘A’ [tripod].

Fartamore, (Brooklawn), Co. Galway

Collector: Máire Búrca

Informant: Unknown

Grid-iron, bread, Christmas, November, boxty, griddle

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

10. Food Galway (308) Food in the old times

Wholemeal cakes and oat bread were cooked on a griddle. It was known, that even before the arrival of St. Patrick, that porridge was a favourite food of the Irish. Wealthy people and ‘nobles’ feasted on wild boar and deer and beef, mutton and pork were abundant but the poor didn’t have meat very often. People didn’t have any sugar either so they used honey instead. Aside from water and milk, the main drinks were those made from honey ale brought over in foreign or native ships from France or Italy.

Bullaun, Co. Galway

Collector: Ciss Dooley, Bellayarha South, Co. Galway

Informant: John Dooley, Bellayarha South, Co. Galway

France, Italy, meat, wheat, oats, porridge, sugar, honey, food, ale, milk, Patrick

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

11. Food Galway (308) How bread was made

‘Stampy’ was made by mixing flour and milk and baking it in a pan. If no pan could be found two leaves of cabbage worked well either. Boxty was made regularly. When an old woman came into the house ‘pasoid’ was boiled for her. When baking the cake of bread a cross was put on the top so that the fairies wouldn’t touch it during the night. Flummey was also made and was involved soaking oatmeal in water for a few hours, after which time it was drained and the juice boiled. After boiling the juice would look like jelly.

Caherlustraun, Co. Galway

Collector: Patrick Roche, Ummoon, Co. Galway

Informant: Thomas Roche, Ummoon, Co. Galway

Boxty, stampy, pasoid, flummery, fairies, cake, jelly, cabbage

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

12. Food Galway (308) Grinding flour for bread

Oatmeal bread was made by grinding the oats on a flagstone with a hole in the middle and another stone fitted on top. The bread once prepared would be baked between two sods of turf. Boxty and boiled potatoes were very popular. Before sending the cake of bread out to the men in the field a small piece was taken off it and kept in the house for eating there. Stampie was made too using sugar, water and oats and baked in cabbage leaves.

Caherlustraun, Co. Galway

Collector: Thomas Roche, Ummoon, Co. Galway

Informant: Mary Roche, Ummoon, Co. Galway

Stampie, cabbage, oats, potatoes, boxty

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

13. Food Galway (308) Caring for leather

Goose grease used to be used for putting on leather goods if they were dried out and very hard.

Caherlustraun, Co. Galway

Collector: Thomas Roche, Ummoon, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Goose, leather

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

14. Food Galway (308) Food for working men

Men would be fed potatoes at around 9 in the morning having already worked for 2 hours. They were fed well as was the entire family. Boiled potatoes were eaten out of a ‘skib’ made from rods that had been boiled. Everyone sat around it as they ate. Bread, tea and boxty could be eaten for the evening meal. Boxty would be made with black potatoes that were scraped and mixed with boiled potatoes and cooked on a griddle. For supper people ate ‘stirabout’ and milk. Most people ate fish – herring was the most popular type.

Tuam, Co. Galway

Collector: Annie Daly, St. Francis Tce, Tuam

Informant: Mr Daly (her father)

Boxty, herring, skib, tea, bread, potatoes, supper, stirabout

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

15. Food Galway (308) Types of food eaten during the day.

People ate 3 meals a day consisting mostly of potatoes, bread and milk. Eggs, buttermilk and porridge were eaten for breakfast and supper. A small current cake and potato cake was available at Christmas. When tea first became available people only drank it in the morning. They used small wooden mugs without handles, called ‘noggins’. People used the long nail on their thumbs for peeling potatoes when there were no knives. It was a great custom on November’s night to make calley.

Garra, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown (Teacher was named as Liam O’hAnnrachain)

Porridge, eggs, buttermilk, Christmas, tea, knives, noggins, calley

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

16. Food Galway (308) Types of food eaten during the day

People used to eat only 2 meals during the day – the men working even before they ate breakfast. Porridge and goat’s milk was taken for breakfast and in the evening people ate slices from an oaten cake with goat’s milk. A different kind of table was also used to eat from. A pot was left in the middle of the floor and a ‘scib’ placed on top. In the middle a plate was placed with dip in it that people used to dip their food into. Everyone used the same dip.

Ballinderry, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Charles McCabe, Brackloon,Ballyglunin Co. Galway

Goat, scib, dip

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

17. Food Galway (308) Potatoes were the main source of food

Potatoes were eaten for breakfast and oat cake too as there was no flour. There would be no tea and rich cake until Christmas.

Caherlustraun, Co. Galway

Collector: Delia McDermott

Informant: James McDermott, Killamanagh, Co. Galway

Potatoes, Christmas, oats, milk, tea, breakfast

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

18. Food Galway (308) Food available when working

There wasn’t much food available besides oatmeal. This was used to make cakes. Gravy was made from goose grease and cabbage was boiled on its own and eaten with potatoes. One day when Maggie McConnell’s grandparents went to Brackloon to cut wheat they ate potatoes with salt and a drink of water for breakfast, oatmeal cake for their dinner and potatoes for their supper.

Caherlustraun, Co. Galway

Collector: Maggie McConnell

Informant: Tom Mcconnell, Derrymore, Co. Galway

Potatoes. Brackloon, oats, wheat

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

19. Food Galway (308) Making Flummery

Oatmeal was used a lot and could be baked in cakes called ‘specks’. Flummery was a drink that could be taken with the oaten bread and was made by taking the liquid from the seeds or shelling of the oats. It was all put into pails and left for a few days, then it was taken out and boiled. People drank it in wooden mugs called noggins.

Caherlustraun, Co. Galway

Collector: Brigid Curry

Informant: Patrick Curry, Ballinapark, Galway

Flummery, oats, noggins

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

20. Food Galway (308) Different types of cake.

Boxty and oaten cake was very popular but also barm bread which was made with potatoes.

Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Mrs Keating, Church Hill, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Barm, bread, boxty, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

21. Food Galway (308) Making Bread

Long ago people made oaten bread with water and sugar. It was baked on a grid iron. Boxty was baked on a griddle and a cross put on it to keep it from bursting out at the sides. In Lent people used to ‘make bread out of flour with potato barm, before yeast was heard of’.

Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Mrs McGuire, Pollboy, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Lent, barm, potato, bake, grid, boxty, griddle, cross

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

22. Food Galway (308) Making Bread

Bread was made using black flour that was made from grinding wheat at home. Griddle bread (flour and buttermilk) and boxty was also made. A cross was out on the top of the bread to stop the fairies from taking it.

Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Collector: Unnown

Informant: Mrs Rankin, Brackernagh, (Persse), Co. Galway

Griddle, bread, buttermilk, flour, fairies

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

23. Food Galway (308) People didn’t have much food

People didn’t have much food long ago. They ate oaten bread and had no tea or sugar. For dinner people ate potatoes with milk and in the evening for supper they would have porridge. ‘All the old people were a lot healthier than this present generation’.

Kiltullagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Eileen Keogh, Killarriv, Co. Galway

Informant: Mary Connors, Killarriv, Co. Galway

Tea, sugar, bread, oats, porridge, milk

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

24. Food Galway (308) Milling wheat

In the old days, people lived on fruit even though the country was ‘overflowing with milk and honey’. Meat was usually only eaten for Sunday dinner. After a while people learned to till the land and grew wheat and could mill it into grain using flat stones and an iron axle. Nearly every man could mill in this way.

Aughrim, Co. Galway

Collector: Maureen Mullin, Newcastle, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Fruit, milk, honey, corn, mill, axle

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

25. Food Galway (308) Different types of food

Most people used to work for hours in the morning before eating. Usually they only ate 2 meals a day. Oatmeal cake boiled in porridge was called ‘cáca phora’ and could be eaten with flummery. Meat was usually only eaten on feast days and the bacon American bacon and it was a nice custom to eat eggs on Easter Sunday. Dermot Minton recalls a story about a woman making tea for the Station Mass. She made the tea and threw away the leaves and the priest had to tell her not to throw away the leaves which were the best part of the tea.

Aughrim, Co. Galway

Collector: Dermot Minton, Aughrim. Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Tea, priest, porridge, flummery, bacon, station, mass, feast, Easter, eggs

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

26. Food Galway (308) The Making of Potato Cake

To make potato cake the people would wash and boil some potatoes. When boiled they would mix with a little flour ‘a pinch of salt and a little soda’ and then roll flat and shape into squares. They would be baked on a griddle for about 25 minutes. Old people called the first square of the cake “cheachru na chacha”,

Killeeneen More, Craughwell, Co. Galway

Collector: Josie Cloonan, Caherfurvaus, Co. Galway

Informant: Peter Cloonan, Caherfurvaus, Co. Galway

Potato, soda, flour

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

27. Food Galway (308) The Making of Potato Cake.

The potato cake is cooked on a griddle until there is a nice brown crust. It is eaten warm and well buttered and when baked properly is about 1 inch thick. It is traditional to bake it on November Night and Christmas Night. It is a very heavy cake and you would have to be very hungry to finish all of it at once.

Killeeneen More, Craughwell, Co. Galway

Collector: Pearl Kelly

Informant: Michael Kelly, Caheradine, Co. Galway

Potato, cake, Christmas, November, baked

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

28. Food Galway (308) Making Boxty.

Boxty was made by scraping a potato onto a board using a piece of tin. The juice that came from potatoes was used to make starch. The potatoes were mixed with salt and flour and a drop of milk. The mixture was divided into 4 parts and put in a pan to bake.

Killeeneen More, Craughwell, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: John Loughan, Killeeneen More, Craughwell, Co. Galway

Boxty, juice, starch, baked, potatoes, flour, salt

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

29. Food Galway (308) Making Boxty

To make boxty you need to scrape potatoes and mix with something like wholemeal flour and some salt. The mixture is then kneaded well, cut into 4 pieces and placed on a hearth griddle. There must be a good fire under the cake to make sure it bakes well. It must cook for about half an hour.

Killeeneen More, Craughwell, Co. Galway

Collector: Mary Kate Kelly, Caheradine, Co. Galway

Informant: John O’Loughnan, Killeeneen More, Co. Galway

Boxty, potatoes, flour, salt, bake, griddle, fire

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

30. Food Galway (308) A cure for a cough

An old cure for a cough involved boiling buttermilk in a pan for about an hour. Then a little new milk is added and the mixture drank. The best time to drink the milk is at bedtime not in the morning.

Killeeneen More, Craughwell, Co. Galway

Collector: Michael Costello, Kilcolgan, Co. Galway

Informant: Michael Linnane, Kilcolgan, Co. Galway

Cough, buttermilk, bedtime

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

31. Food Galway (308) Food people used to Eat

People worked hard and had 2 hours’ work done in the morning before having their breakfast. The men sat around the table and when they were finished the table was hung up on the wall until the next meal. People drank out of ‘noggins’ as there were no cups. They ate oat bread and sometimes rye bread. Rabbits and hare were eaten and their meat could be eaten raw.

Castlefrench, Co. Galway

Collector: Peter Fallon, Currafarry, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Rabbit, hare, rye, bread, oat, noggins, breakfast

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

32. Food Galway (308) Types of bread

The types of bread that were eaten in the area included oven bread, oatmeal bread, potato bread cake, boxty. Boxty is made from boiled potatoes and raw potatoes and flour. There is an old saying:

“Boxty on the griddle

Boxty on the pan

If you don’t eat boxty

You will never be a man”

Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Mrs Kenny, Calla

boxty, cake, bread, griddle

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

33. Food Galway (308) Using corn and oats and potatoes.

Oaten cake was made by mixing the oat flour with water and dividing in half and either baking on a brand iron or standing against a sod of turf. Corn was grown locally and ground in every house. First it was shelled and then it was ground. Potatoes were used to make cakes or ‘farls’ and cooked on a griddle. Boxty was also made from potatoes. If a cross was not placed on the top of the cake it would burst. During Lent, oaten meal was made into small balls. A pot of water was put to boil over the fire and a small amount of meal put into it. Once boiled the balls were put into it until they were cooked. They were eaten with a mug of the meal and water.

Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Stephen Cahill, Lisnascreena, Co. Galway

Informant: Mrs Cahill (his mother)

Lent, corn, oats, flour, shelled, ground, boxty, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

34. Food Galway (308) Hand Querns

Querns were made from 2 stones and were used to ground the corn. One stone was left on top of the other and the uppermost stone had a hole in the middle. If the stone was then turned by a handle the corn would be crushed. There is an old saying that goes:

“Barley bread will do you no good

Rye bread will do you no harm

Oaten bread will strengthen your arms

Wheaten bread will strengthen your arms”

Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Bridie Sweeney, Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Informant: Mrs Sweeney (her mother)

Querns, corn, stone, bread

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

35. Food Galway (308) Food in the district

About 60 years ago it was common for people to eat an evening meal called ‘briochan’. It consisted of oatmeal and water flavoured with vegetables like onions and sometimes turnip. In some places a flour and oatmeal cake was boiled in the mixture too. Boiled cakes were very common and sometimes they would be cooked with cabbage leaves. Flummery was also ‘a dainty meal’ made from oatmeal. When the oats had been stripped from the stalk at home the seed was taken and steeped in water until the water became sour. The skins or shells were called ‘sounds’ and the sour water was called ‘shearings’. This water was used as a drink and could be taken with porridge if the supply of milk ran short. When flummery was made, the water was boiled until it became like jelly and sweetened with sugar. It could be eaten as the mid-day meal.

Ballinlass, Co. Galway

Collector: Peggie Mahon, Sion Hill, Co. Galway

Informant: Mrs McGill, Sion Hill, Co. Galway

Flummery, vegetables, cake, onions, turnip, oats, sugar, porridge, jelly

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

36. Food Galway (308) Food People Used to Eat in this Area

People used a lot of buttermilk and potatoes at meal times. The table was always by the wall and tea did not become common in the district until about 50 years ago.

Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Martin Kenny

Informant: Thomas Kenny (his father)

Tea, buttermilk, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

37. Food Galway (308) Food in the district

American Bacon could be bought for 2p a pound and as fish was plentiful people ate a lot of them. Other food eaten regularly included boiled turnips with oaten meal and salt. On the 10th of November, a cock was eaten in honour of St. Martin. Tea first became available in the area about 70 years ago and people drank it make mugs called noggins.

Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Martin Sweeney

Tea, St. martin, Noggins, Bacon, Salt, Turnips, November, Fish

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

38. Food Galway (308) Bread and other food in the area

Not everyone had milk or could use it all the time as most could not afford to keep a cow so ‘sour cherrins’ were used as a substitute. The table was always kept near the wall and there were 4 types of bread made regularly, including Indian Bread, Oaten Bread, Rye Bread and Boxty Bread. There was very little variety in food except for the rich who could afford some bacon and some fish. People did not eat late at night. On 1st November ‘Cally’ was eaten and on Easter Sunday eggs were boiled and eaten. Tea was first used here about 100 years ago.

Fohanagh, Co. Galway

Collector: Lily McLoughlin

Informant: Mrs McLoughlin (her mother), Ballynabanaba, Co. Galway

Cow, cherrins, table, bread, fish, bacon, cally, tea, fish, Easter, November

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

Potatoes could and were eaten at nearly every meal. People also boiled nettles and ate them. When meal was boiled for animals, people could eat that also but they never sat down for any meal. During the famine that broke out in 1846 and 1847 people were starving and ate horse flesh and anything else they could get.

Boxty made from potatoes and cooked on a griddle is a popular food.

There was always a custom that people ate eggs on Easter Sunday.

About 90 years ago tea was first used in the area. When the water was drawn for the tea people would strain it off. Sometimes the leaves could be mixed with butter and eaten. The tea was taken in wooden mugs called noggins.

Kiltartan, Co. Galway

Collector: Michael Moran, Gort, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Noggins, tea, leaves, butter, Easter, griddle, Famine

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

43. Food Galway (308) Potatoes for every meal

Potatoes were eaten at nearly every meal. The men went to work early in the morning and returned a few hours later for breakfast. For that meal, they ate potatoes with salt and dipped them into milk left on the plate. They peeled the potatoes with their nails. Tea was unknown and bread was quite scarce but there was plenty of wheat. For dinner people ate potatoes with sour milk and at night potatoes with onions and salt. Sometimes herring was taken at mealtime on Sundays but it was rare. Meat was only available on special days – American Meat or Longbottom. Stampy was made from potatoes and was eaten when the potato digging was finished and this was known as ‘Cappa na deireadh’. All the people who helped with the potatoes remained for the Stampy and they had a dance. Tea was first used in this area about 10 years ago and people drank it from bowls.

Killomoran Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Milk, meals, potatoes, salt, wheat, tea, dinner, Stampy, Meat, dance

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

44. Food Galway (308) Food People Used to Eat

People ate a lot of potatoes even for breakfast. Sometimes they ate potatoes and ‘plumery’. Plumery was the bad seed from the meal. A woman would put on a white dress and a white pair of stockings and after spreading a clean sheet on the ground she would sieve the meal. The best part of the meal was used for porridge and the seeds for plumery. The seeds would be placed in a pot for a week and then boiled for the dinner.

Potato cake was the most popular thing to eat and people would drink with milk as there was no tea.

The table would be placed against the wall when not in use and meat was eaten very seldom.

Potato Cake would be eaten on Christmas night and eggs on Easter morning. Tea only became available about 30 years ago and people drank from wooden mugs called noggins.

Cappataggle, Co. Galway

Collector: Bridie Jennings, Cappataggle, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Informant:Michael Jennings, Cappataggle, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Potatoes, plumery, meal, stockings, seed, tea, noggins, Easter, Christmas

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

45. Food Galway (308) Food Eaten during the Day

In former times in this area people ate bread made from barley and water. They ate 3 meals a day consisting of barley bread, milk and butter.

Cappataggle, Co. Galway

Collector: Agnes Power, Newcastle, Co. Galway

Informant: Mrs Power, Newcastle, Co. Galway

Milk, butter, bread, meals

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

46. Food Galway (308) Common Food

The most common food eaten in the area was porridge and potatoes. Milk was taken at every meal rather than tea and sometimes buttermilk used with potatoes. People ate their meals sitting around the table and they sometimes had American Bacon sold at 3p per pound. Fish was quite plentiful.

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

56. Food Galway (308) Pig’s Puddings

At the time of killing the pig, Síghle Ní Conchubhar’s mother would hold a basin under the carcase to collect the blood. This she would stir and stir and bruise away the lumps of blood. While stirring, she would also ‘add the odd fist of salt’ to prevent the blood from thickening too much. The pudding casings would be cleaned by rinsing them and then turning them inside out. They would be left in a basin of salted water until the following day.Early next day she would cut some lard off the pig and divide into small slices and would add them to the basin of blood along with pepper, all-spice, salt, cloves, cinnamon and onions. Everything would be mixed together with some water. The water would make the blood more plentiful. The mixture was set to boil.Next, with some help from someone holding the puddings, she would fill them using a small jug. They would only be filled half way so that they wouldn’t burst when boiling later. When she thinks that she has enough made, she puts them on to boil and once done transfers them to a basin to cool.

Killinny East, Co.Galway

Collector: Síghle Ní Conchubhar, Ardnagno, Co. Galway

Informant: her mother. Puddings, blood, basin, spice, casing, jug

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

57. Food Galway (308) Making Boxty

Boxty was used by grating potatoes using a tin measuring 6 inches by 9 inches approximately. The potatoes were grated into a cloth. Flour and salt was added and some people added a little sweet milk too. This could be baked or made into dumplings by shaping them into the size of eggs and adding to boiling water. Sometimes the cake was baked in the hot ashes of the fire.

Killinny East, Co.Galway

Collector: Unkown

Informant: James Davenport, Kinvarra, Co. Galway

Boxty, flour, bake, egg, dumpling

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

58. Food Galway (308) Fat from Meat

Sometimes at a dance a bit of fat would be squeezed with the tongs of the fire and given to the dancers with potatoes

Gortnadeeve West, Co.Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Tongs, fat, fire, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

59. Food Galway (308) Sowens

When people got the oat seeds back from the mill after they were ground, they could be put into boiling water. The crock was covered with a lid and the mixture was left until it turned sour. This could take about 3 weeks. A bundle of clean, long straw was then brought in and placed over a pot, acting as a strainer for the boiled mixture. It was then boiled again until it thickened and salt was added. When cooled, the mixture was slippery to the touch and could be eaten

Killinny East, Co.Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Patrick Griffin, Doocarrick, Co. Donegal

Sowens, seeds, crock, straw, strainer

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

60. Food Galway (308) Cures

Asses and goat’s milk was a cure for consumption when taking while fasting.

Heated sheep’s milk could cure a sore throat

3 small potatoes carried in the pocket could cure rheumatism or a toothache

The foam from new milk could also cure toothache

Ferret’s ‘leavings’ could cure measles

A ‘fairy’ mushroom would stop bleeding

Goose gal rubbed on lumps would cure them

Goose grease could be used on sore or stiff knees

A plaster made from bread soda, sugar and soap would cure a boil when applied to it

The leaf of a raw cabbage used on a sore would cure it

At the time of the famine, people used to make cakes from rotten potatoes as they had nothing else. They would scrape the potatoes and make boxty.

Another type was called Johnny Cake. To make it they cleaned the hearth as well as they could so that is was hot but clean of ashes. They would put the cake on the hot hearth and place the hot ashes over it. When it was well baked, they would clear away the ashes and it would be ‘as well baked as any other cake’.

Pan cakes were also made from milk, flour, eggs and baking powder. Potato scones were eaten too made from mashed potato, flour and butter and baked on a greased pan.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: James Coyne

Informant: John Coyne

Famine, cake, ashes, milk, eggs, flour, bake, potato, butter pancake

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

67. Food Galway (308) Different types of bread

There are many different types of bread eaten in the area. These include soda bread, brown bread, loaf bread and pancakes. The old people were very fond of potato cake. During the famine people had nothing to eat and ate herbs and pulled up the sets before the potatoes were grown.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: Richard Newman

Informant: Patrick Newman

Potato, famine, pancakes, bread, herbs

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

68. Food Galway (308) Pancakes and other bread

The bread that most people eat is called soda bread and it is made from buttermilk, flour and soda. Brown bread and wholemeal bread can also be made. Ginger bread is made from flour, milk, sugar and bread-soda and ginger while pancakes are made using eggs, flour, milk and salt and cooked on a pan over the fire. People long ago were very fond of potato cakes. The flour they used had a very dark colour. The people were very healthy then because they used to eat the crusts of the bread as well as the rest of the cake. There were hardly ever any toothaches as people didn’t like sweet cakes. They mostly made cakes made from bran.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: Teresa Newman

Informant: Unknown

bread, pancakes, potato, famine, ginger, buttermilk, toothache, crust, bran

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

69. Food Galway (308) Cures from herbs

Long ago people made cures for various illnesses from hers. The dandelion was a favourite cure for heart trouble and it was used also for colds. They were placed in water and left for a while.

The green leaves of the primrose were put to sores to cure them and ivy was also used for the same purpose.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Herbs, dandelion, ivy, primrose, heart, sores

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

70. Food Galway (308) Herbs for cures and eating

Nowadays not many people hear about herbs and there are only a few people who hear about them. Many were used for sores and illness. Some could be eaten as vegetables like watercress which could be used as a cure for bile or swelling sores.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: Brigid O’Toole, Sellerna, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

herbs, sores, bile, watercress, vegetable

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

71. Food Galway (308) Knowledge of Herbs

Dandelion Slanlis, Crawdan, Garlic water-cress, nettles and several other herbs, all grow wild nowadays as very few people know about them now and they are never used.

Parsley, thyme and chives are flavouring herbs for food.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: Mary o’Toole

Informant: Ita O’Toole

Herbs, flavouring

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

72. Food Galway (308) The Famine

During the time of the famine people died when the potatoes rotted in the ground. There were no coffins for the people so they use a box with hinges on the bottom so that when they came to the grave they would open the bottom and let the person fall into the grave.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Unknown

Famine, graves, coffin, potato

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

73. Food Galway (308) What people ate during the Famine

During the Famine people made cakes from rotten potatoes because the potato crop failed. The Famine came in 1846 and 1847 and ever since that time the farmers spray their potatoes to keep the blight away. By 1847 there was neither potato nor seed to sow in the ground and people started to die from hunger. Soup houses were built and people began to crowd there. It is said that the people who were giving out the soup to others would also take a mouthful of it for themselves.

Cleggan, Co. Galway

Collector: James Coyne

Informant: Mrs Coyne

Soup, famine, potato, blight, hunger

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

74. Food Galway (308) Making Bread

A soda cake is made by flour, sour milk and soda. Mix the ingredients in a basin and bake it in the oven adding some coals over the top and underneath until it is baked

The oats are ground in the mill and the meal is wet and then baked in front of the fire.

Ballyroe, Co. Galway

Collector: Paddy Patterson, Springfield, Williamstown, Co. Galway

Informant: Patrick Patterson

cake, oven, coals, meal, mill

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

75. Food Galway (308) Different types of bread

There are a lot of different types of bread – boxty, potato cake, slap jack, oaten bread and soda bread. A scraper is used to make boxty. It is a piece of tin with a board for the scrapings and flour is mixed in along with bread soda. Potato cake is made by boiling the potatoes.

Slap jack is made in a basin or a mug and is made like a soda cake. Meal and sugar is put in a basin and water added and it is cut into 4 pieces and more meal rubbed on it. Then it is put on an iron grid or a pan. Sometimes a small cake is left near a kettle or support.

Soda bread is made with flour and bread soda and buttermilk mixed together. A cross is out on the top and a lit is put on it. The fire is placed on the top and underneath to cook it.

Ballyroe, Co. Galway

Collector: Martin Smyth

Informant: Unknown

bread, potato, meal, sugar, fire, kettle

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

76. Food Galway (308) Food people used to eat

For the dinner, the family would sit on the floor around a ‘skib’ which would be left on a pot. They would have a ‘nogging’ full of sour milk and sometimes herring roasted on a grid iron. There would also be oaten bread called ‘aran coirce’. There wouldn’t be much meat except for fowl’s meat.

Long ago people didn’t eat much food on Good Friday except for oaten bread baked standing and tea without milk or sugar.

When Christmas would come the man of the house would go to town and buy a stone of flour.

When tea first came to the area the people used to boil it and eat the leaves and throw away the tea water.

People had no delph but had a metal vessel called a nogging and a wooden pail. When delph came first they were all brown and blue and they were very heavy.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Maggie Gibney

Informant: Tom Diskin, Kiltullagh, Co. Galway

Skib, milk, iron, Friday, Christmas, delph, nogging

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

77. Food Galway (308) Using Milk to cook

Sheep’s milk can be heated on the fire and when it is very hot oatmeal can be added. This makes very good food and is called ‘Gidley’. Oatmeal can also me mixed with sugar and a small amount of water added and left to soak. Some milk is later added and then it can be eaten. To make ‘Scailceen’ buttermilk is boiled on the fire and oatmeal is added to simmer for half an hour. When ready it is served with butter and sugar.

Boxty is made from rotten potatoes and ‘sound’ potatoes. They are scraped onto a clean cloth and squeezed until the juice is out. Boiled potatoes and flour is added and divided into 4 parts and cooked on a griddle

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Maggie Gibney

Informant: Tom Diskin, Kiltullagh, Co. Galway

Milk, oats, butter, boxty, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

78. Food Galway (308) Food from long ago

The food they used long away was mostly potatoes, milk and porridge. Often they had dry bread and tea for their first meal and worked for a few hours before the breakfast.

When eating, the table would be in the middle of the floor but never had the table hanging on the wall. They used fowl’s meat that was their own and fish they bought at the market.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Francis Corley

Informant: Tom Hussey, Scotland, Co. Galway

Potatoes, milk, porridge, tea, table, fowl, fish

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

79. Food Galway (308) Meals during the day

People ate 3 meals, breakfast, dinner or ‘bagging’ and supper. The people had no clocks and knew the time by the sun and when they were hungry.

Potatoes, oatmeal and milk were the main food. The table was kept near the window and there were no folding tables at that time.

White bread was mostly eaten and made from butter milk and soda. They made the cakes with their hands and not with spoons.

Herring could be found in the lakes and the sea and when they invited a friend there would be special food.

The grandfathers of the present day had no tea so it must have been lately that tea was available. When it was made, they used to throw away the water and eat the leaves.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Pauline O’Dea

Informant: Delia Raftery, Glennamaddy, Co. Galway

breakfast, dinner, supper, potatoes, oatmeal, milk, table, cakes, tea, spoons

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

80. Food Galway (308) Making Boxty

Boxty was made from the scraping of potatoes. Some potatoes were rotten and later some boiled were added. The scrapings were put in a clean cloth and all the moisture squeezed out. This was put into a ‘losoid’ and boiled potatoes added, along with flour and salt. It was all made into a cake and cut into 4 parts. It was then baked on a griddle and when it was cooked it was well buttered and eaten hot.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Francis Corley

Informant: Tom Hussey, Scotland, Co. Galway

Boxty, flour, salt, griddle, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

81. Food Galway (308) Special Occasions

There was no special food for such occasions as Christmas and Easter. Current cakes and eggs were not available. Thomas Dillon’s parents had never heard of the flat stone for grinding corn.

People used to make potato cake and boxty, and still make it now. A cross would be put on the top of the cake to make it bake well.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Thomas Dillon, Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Informant: His father

Christmas, Easter, corn, cake, potatoes

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

82. Food Galway (308) Special Occasions

People did have special food for special occasions. They ate current cakes at Christmas, eggs at Easter and cally cakes on November Night. The people used noggins instead of cups and bread was made from oaten meal

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Oliver Bruen, Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Christmas, Easter, November,cake, eggs, cally

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

83. Food Galway (308) Meals during the day

People ate 3 times a day but had no clocks and ate whatever they felt like having at the time. Usually they ate potatoes, porridge and oaten bread. They drank tea or sour milk. They used a skib instead of a table with a pot on top, all placed in the middle of the floor. Herring and trout could be caught in the rivers and lakes.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Paddy Gilligan, Eskeromullacaun, Co. Galway

Informant: His father

potatoes, porridge, herring, trout, skib

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

84. Food Galway (308) Food eaten at different times

Current cakes used to be eaten at Christmas and eggs at Easter. Boxty and potato cake were also made. Boxty involved the scraping of potatoes into a dish and mixing with flour.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Thomas Hussey, Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown Christmas, Easter, boxty, eggs, dish

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

85. Food Galway (308) Food eaten at different times

People used to eat boxty at Christmas as well as current cake and then at Easter they had eggs. The people used to grind corn at home with a stone.

Glenamaddy, Co. Galway

Collector: Francis Brady, Gortnagier East, Co. Galway

Informant: Parent

Boxty, Christmas, Easter, eggs, corn

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

86. Food Galway (308) Food for Beggars

Beggars always got ‘Ráin pora’ – this was a cake of oaten bread boiled in porridge made in 4 ‘parleys’. People used to make 3 of these in the month of March with a lot of nettles added to make them healthy. People gave it to the beggars but all in the house could eat it. People used to keep the beggars overnight and give them potatoes and milk and perhaps some butter when leaving the next morning.

Gortnadeeve West, Co.Galway

Collector: Jude Henry, Faartan, Co. Galway

Informant: Unknown

Beggars, porridge, nettles, butte, March

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

Calves were bled at a certain part of the neck. The blood was later boiled and cooked with food. A man from Fartown had this trade and used to get paid so much per calf.

Gortnadeeve West, Co.Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Jude Henry, Faartan, Co. Galway

Calves, blood

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

100. Food Galway (308) Bleeding Calves

John Saxon was a cousin of a Halloran man who used to live in Moher and would bleed cows and calves in the neck. He used not charge for the service. The blood was used in cooking

Gortnadeeve West, Co.Galway

Collector: Unknown

Informant: Jude Henry, Faartan, Co. Galway

Calves, cows, blood, Moher

Duchas, ‘The Schools’ Collection’, www.duchas.ie

Schools Folklore Collection ( Adobe Acrobat document, opens in a new window)

This page was added on 18/04/2017.