Jack Flanagan

Interview by Frances Madigan on February 7, 2011

Gender: Male

Birth date: 44353

Area: West Clare - Dough

Parish: Kilmacrehy - Dough

Report date: July 26, 2011

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Time Description
1:00:32 - 1:03:37 FUNERALS - Jack remembers only a small bit of his grandfather's funeral. The hearse was a horse drawn cart. All the clocks and mirrors would have been covered. He remembers a bit of music been played at another wake. Relations and neighbours would have dug the grave. Note: Interview ends
0:52:33 - 1:00:32 VILLAGE LIFE - Kilfenora was a great place for football. There were nine pubs in kilfenora and they were shops as well. The village had three bakeries. There was only one butcher located there. Jack lists and names the pubs/shops that were in the village. Cigarettes were sold in packages of five and cost two pence. Jack wasn't too sure of the price because he never smoked. His grandmother use to take a little bit of snuff.
0:49:50 - 0:52:33 HOLY COMMUNION AND CONFIRMATION - Father Glennon was the priest that did the ceremony. They got some new clothes and a certificate. There was no money given and you didn't go out for dinner. Jack said he was about 13 or 14 when he was confirmed. The name he took was Joseph.
0:47:26 - 0:48:25 THE ECONOMIC WAR - The Economic War occurred in the 1930's and during the price of Cattle drop. Jack says you couldn't sell a small cafe but if you killed it you would get ten shillings for it.
0:48:25 - 0:49:50 FARM ANIMALS - There was a dog and a cat on the farm but they weren't really pets but instead workers on the farm. They also had a horse. If the horse needed new shoes there was two forges in Kilfenora and five or six in Ennistymon.
0:30:39 - 0:47:26 FARMING - His father's farm had five cows and a horse. They would only have four or five cafes and two pigs. For Christmas, they would have a few hens to sell Jack remembers making butter when he was younger which was normally done during the summer time. Jack talks about the North Clare Creamery which was opened in 1935. He outlines the routine of selling butter to this creamery. After this Jack talks about chickens and selling their eggs. Jack had several jobs on the farm which he lists as feeding the cows and cleaning the cabins. The big job in Spring was shaving the hay. This was all done by hand with a fork and a rake. Their bog was located a mile and a half away.The land they owned wasn't very good for tillage. So it was converted into a garden with black soil which was good for growing potatoes, fruit crops and cabbage. The memory of the blight during the famine was still in people's minds so the potatoes would be sprayed twice daily. November was normally when killing the pig would happen. A lot of hot water had to be applied. Jack goes what would occur at this event.
0:28:12 - 0:30:39 ELECTRICITY AND WWII - Jack lived at home during the war. When the war was over he moved to Dublin and while he was there electricity was introduced to his home. There was a lot of opposition to it implementation. This mainly consisted of the older generation that didn't want it.
0:21:19 - 0:24:08 EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS - In 1932 Dublin played host to the Eucharistic Congress. Jack explains the great religious atmosphere that existed in Ireland at this time. He goes on to talk about travelling to Knock by bus.
0:24:08 - 0:28:12 SCHOOL - Jack describes the school that he attended in his younger days. The school itself was built in 1842 and consisted of two classrooms. It had a chimney however it remained blocked so there would never been any heat. Jack loved both history and taking pictures. This led him going to Kilfenore Abbey and taking some pictures. Jack says they would get only a small amount of homework He explains that materials that were needed for school were scarce. Each student would have to buy their own writing ink
0:16:45 - 0:21:19 SCHOOLS, FOLKLORE AND THE IRISH LANGUAGE - Jack talks about the Schools' Collection Scheme which was created by the Irish Folklore Commission. It aimed to collect Folklore through the use of students. Jack brought in some stories and a few poems. Jack says he loved carpentry and use to do a few jobs around the house. Jack talks about the Irish language and how there was evening classes in Kilfenora. He talks about attending these classes and the headmaster of the school.
0:00:00 - 0:07:01 FAMILY BACKGROUND - Jack talks about his family background. His memories reach back to his grandparents. He talks about been brought to Kilfenora to be baptised. He explains that he was born during the War of Independence and when he was baptised Ireland was still under English control. The house he grew up in was thatched until 1920 which was when it was slated. The house consisted of a kitchen and three little bedrooms. There was an open hearth fire in the kitchen.
0:07:01 - 0:11:25 SCHOOL - Jack started going to school when he was six. 1928 his fathers brother came home from America on holidays. While he was in Ireland he had a car
0:11:25 - 0:16:45 CAMERAS - His grandfather died in February 1930. Another uncle came back from America the same year. He brought a box camera back with him which fascinated Jack. He went for a drive in a rented car with his uncle. There was a firm selling Coco that started a coupon scheme. You had to collect 60 coupons in order to get a box camera. He wasn't able to take many pictures because he didn't have money. His first photo was a view of kilfenora village. He also took a few pictures of the Abbey.

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