Paddy Pyne
Interview by John Hehir on January 16, 2016
Gender: Male
Birth date: 1934
Area: West Clare
Parish: Kilmaley
Report date: October 11, 2016
| Time | Description |
|---|---|
| File 1 0:00:01 - 0:13:05 | PADDY'S FAMILY & FARMING - Paddy tells of his siblings and his grandparents families. His mother Susan Ryan, came from Gortbofarna, Inagh. Most of the marriages were 'matches' and he recalls his father making 'introductions' for suitable marriages. The amount of the dowry or 'fortune' was based on the size of the farm the woman was going into. Next Paddy describes the type of land on their 56 acre farm in Kilmaley. Tillage involved growing root and grain crops. Compulsory tillage was strictly enforced by department officials. The acreage of tillage depended on the amount of arable land a farmer had. All the work was done with horses. They also kept cows, cattle and sheep. Pyne's had a lime kiln and Paddy remembers the process of burning the limestone to get the lime for spreading on the land. Horses and carts collected the large blocks of limestone from a suitable quarry. It was then broken down with hammers into smaller stones. Next it was put in the kiln between layers of good turf and culm and burned. The fire wasn't allowed go out so during the night members of the family added extra layers until all the lime was burned. Burned lime was much better than ground lime for immediate response when put on the crops. The corn was cut and bound with a binding machine stooks and then stacks were made. Later in the year the thrashing machine came and the thrashing was done. By keeping a bull, the neighbours gave days for the services of the bull. Each field had its own name; one in particular was called 'the tollánÃn' where unbaptised babies were buried. Farmyard manure was used in the garden. |
| 0:13:06 - 0:16:40 | DR. HAYES - During the war time a Dr. Hayes lived in Kilmaley. He knew how sick a person was by looking at their hair and their eyes. He made up the medicinal bottled in the dispensary. Tablets were coming in at that time but the old doctor had no belief in tablets. Paddy's father suffered from pneumonia from time to time. Dr. Hayes advised him to put a second storey on the house as he needed more fresh air to alleviate the problem. Stones were quarried not far from the house, gravel was got in Ruan. They also bought trees in Ruan which were taken to the sawmills in Ennis which were used for the roof. The house was much healthier after and the grant almost paid for the work. |
| 0:16:41 - 0:1900 | CROMWELL AND KILMALEY - Priest/Friars were chased by the Cromwellian army from the Burren. They sought shelter in Kilmaley in a particular house but were refused. It is believed that the family were cursed. The friars sought shelter in small islands close by to escape the soldiers but that they lost their chalices in the lake. It is also local tradition that they were later killed by the soldiers in another part of the parish. |
| 0:19:01 - 0:23:55 | ORIGIN OF PYNE NAME - It is believed that the name came from France (probably Huguenots) escaping persecution. They changed their names so that they would not be identified. Other family name like Ash, Brown, Black Green and White may have done likewise. The Pyne trade was bridge building. Here Paddy recalls some memories of his grandmother Mary Hehir. He remembers her as a great worker but contrary. Originally from Dunsallagh near Miltown she ruled the roost in Kilmaley. When her daughter Molly was marrying Micko McGann of Kilmaley, a party was held in the bride's house before the evening wedding. She had the table cloths and towels washed and out drying on the hedge before they left for the wedding in the church |
| File 2 0:00:01 - 0:09:30 | ORIGIN OF PYNE NAME - It is believed that the name came from France (probably Huguenots) escaping persecution. They changed their names so that they would not be identified. Other family name like Ash, Brown, Black Green and White may have done likewise. The Pyne trade was bridge building. Here Paddy recalls some memories of his grandmother Mary Hehir. He remembers her as a great worker but contrary. Originally from Dunsallagh near Miltown she ruled the roost in Kilmaley. When her daughter Molly was marrying Micko McGann of Kilmaley, a party was held in the bride's house before the evening wedding. She had the table cloths and towels washed and out drying on the hedge before they left for the wedding in the church |
| 0:09:31--0:22:15 | PADDY HOGAN T.D/GRIFFIN'S SHOP, ENNIS/THE GAA - Paddy Hogan was a brother of Delia Hogan, Jack Pyne's wife. The Hogan family came from Connolly. Paddy was a barrister, Labour T.D. Leas Ceann Comhairle and Ceann Comhairle. The family was evicted from their family farm in his father's time. Paddy was a rural postman in his younger days. Paddy Pyne spent about five years in Griffin's drapery shop in Ennis after one year's secondary education at the CBS in Ennis. He served his time and got charge of a department and was put in charge of buying for the shop. The wages were very low in the beginning but increased up to £7-10 per week along with commission. He cycled the six miles to work but often stayed over the shop with Labrador dog and a loaded gun at night for protection. Fortunately he never had to use the gun. Paddy was involved in the GAA at the time and lots of the players came in to buy suits and shirts. Mick Murphy was one of the great hurlers from Kilmaley who won an All- Ireland with Tipperary. He mentioned Jimmy Smyth as a great hurler and Dan McInerney. Paddy trained a Kilmaley team to win a county Junior Championship in 1954. He also took up refereeing which lasted for ten years which stopped in 1968 when he married. He did gates as well, collecting the entrance money to matches and mentioned Paddy Hennessy of Miltown asking him to do the gates for a particular match. The GAA interfered with his visits to the seaside on Sundays. One Sunday when was very young he remembers going to Lahinch with a friend for Garland Sunday. |
| File 3 0:00:01 - 0:02:30 | CONTINUING WITH THE TRIP TO LAHINCH - The boys thumbed there, played a match on the beach and came home on the West Clare Railway train courtesy of Sinny McCormack. It stopped on the way back to Ennis, the boys got out and played with the football, got back on the train as it began moving again and walked from the station in Ennis back to Kilmaley |
| 0:02:32 - 0:14:20 | FARM - Describing his farm at home it was wet mineral soil. Here he repeats the process of burning limestone in the kiln. He mentions using the burnt lime in the gardens; they didn't travel to the seaside for sea sand as it too far away. A set of shoes for a horse could be worn out and inland farmers took great care of the working horses. Eustace's had the forge and a shop near the church in Kilmaley. Tom Eustace was the last to work there and he was also a member of the Kilfenora Céilà Band. Paddy often brought the horses to be shod. He remembers the process of reddening the iron, cutting it to the shape of a shoe and holing it for the nails. He liked blowing the bellows to redden the fire. He travelled to Dan McInerney's of Ennis with the pony and a cart having 8 or 9 bags of corn to be milled. It was brought home and gruel was made for the cattle. They also grew turnips, mangolds and beet. Thinning the beet was the most difficult part of growing the beet. Jim Maloney, a cousin from Freagh (Miltown Malbay) was brought to live with the Pyne's when he was a baby as his mother wasn't well. He died in 1969 in his 70's. He did all the jobs around the farm, summer and winter. In fact he ran the farm and could turn his hand to any type of work. Paddy describes digging the gardens by hand in the winter, milking the cows and eventually changing to dry stock in 1990.He goes on to cautiously predict that farming in Ireland will change dramatically in the near future. |
| 0:14:21 - 0:21:14 | POSTMEN/FAIRS - Pat Joe Murphy was one postman and Michael Hegarty from Inagh another. They brought lots of parcels around on bicycles especially at Christmas. Sometimes when the job got too much Michael hired either a pony and trap or a car. The Garda Barracks was in Connolly. Cattle fairs were held there but mostly the cattle were brought to the Fair Green in Ennis. He remembers a cousin of his father walking from near Miltown with cattle for the Ennis fair. He stayed at Pyne's for the night, the cattle were fed and the rest of the journey was done early the next morning. [Here Paddy is referring to Micko Hehir, Mountscott who was a cattle-dealer, to supplement his farm income. Micko later married into a farm in Monmore near Kilrush]. |
| 0:21:15 - 0:25:50 | THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE - A training camp was held in Kilmaley. His father had some involvement but not much. Paddy's outside farm in Inch held the remains of what was believed was a spy but the remains were later removed to somewhere else. Another man was held captive in Lisroe, thought to be someway connected with the enemy. He put a mark with a penknife on the back of a sugán chair. Sometime later he escaped and the forces of law and order visited the house, saw the mark on the chair and burned the house. The sugáns were made for tying the hay. Oaten or Rye straw was best for the sugáns for the chairs. The 'bough' was used to twist the hay or straw into sugáns. Sally rods were cut to make turf or potato scuttles which were used in the house or calf baskets put on the calves to prevent them sucking. |
| 0:25:51 - 0:33:20 | VISITS TO ENNIS AND THE COMING OF ELECTRICITY - When Paddy was younger he talks about travelling to Ennis to hurling matches in Cusack park. Usually he thumbed and once got a lift in the back of Coffey's lorry which he shared with dead animals. He describes how the square was full of people throwing hats and caps in the air and cheering as de Valera was making a speech before election time. In the mid 1950's Fr. O Brien, a native of Scariff, was curate in Kilmaley parish. He organised a deputation to meet Mr. Collins, the area manager of the ESB, in Limerick. Mary O Donnell a teacher from Inch, Mattie Fitzpatrick from Slieveen, representing the farmers and Paddy Pyne himself as an agricultural instructor were the members of the deputation. Paddy Hogan the local T.D. didn't make the meeting but a letter he sent was instrumental in getting the electricity to Kilmaley. Shortly afterwards the works started and the engineer Mr. Hickey came and stayed in lodgings in Tobin's shop. The ESB had a depot at Lynch's of Fairyhill where all the equipment and rolls of wire were stored. A Cullinan man from Toonagh with a horse got the job of pulling the poles to the positions they were needed. Local men were also employed digging the holes with shovels which gave much needed employment.MV Hehir bought his first tractor from money he received from the ESB for digging holes. He and his brother Tony later bought diggers which became their main livelihoods. The next job was getting the people to take the electricity which Paddy did in his part of the parish. The cost and the danger were some concerns as many houses were thatched at the time (early 1960's). But the enterprise was successful, everyone took the electricity and the fairies disappeared from the parish. |
| 0:33:21 - 0:54:22 | RELIGION AND WATER SUPPLY - Serving Mass was one of Paddy's first introductions to formal religion. He learned the Latin responses after school hours and served mass for different priests. He mentions a Fr. Roche who chastised the altar boys for mistakes but who also looked after their well-being in the form of money when stations were said in houses. Saying the rosary was never missed nor was confession. The Missioners came to the parish for a week and the greatest sin of the times was 'company-keeping'. The strict side of the church was not allowing a man who was on the run and who committed suicide in a local lake, into the church before burial. The tinkers were a great asset to the community in that they made and repaired leaking buckets, pans and cans. A well close to the farm house had clear water which the local doctor got analysed as magnesia water. Paddy himself has the gift of water divining with the hazel rods or rods producing fruit. The Kilmaley Water Scheme is a Co-Op. and the water source is Lough na Minna. It supplies water to over 2,000 homes. The Ennis water supply came from Ballyvoe, Inch originally but now it comes from Ballyalla, Drumcliffe. Paddy describes the water supply from Ballyvoe in great detail which is still in standby if there are problems with the supply from Drumcliffe. There are holy wells in the parish which were frequented in times gone by but not anymore. One holy well was near Loughburke. It is said that a local saint got the well moved to the other side of the lake because people were washing their clothes in the well instead of in the lake. The footprints of the saint were believed to be seen on the flagstone in front of where the original well was. The slavery associated with drawing water from wells, washing clothes etc. has gone since the installation of running water. Both male and female are now not as fit as they were once and as a result the gyms and slimming regimes have taken the place of the hard physical labour. |
| 00:54:23—00:60:00 | PARISH BOUNDARIES AND WAKES - Inch was once part of the parish of Drumcliffe (Ennis) until a priest Fr. Lynch got it annexed to the Kilmaley parish. Most of the older families who live in Inch still use the Drumcliffe graveyard for burials, some people in Connolly use Inagh and Lower Inch use the graveyard in Joyce's of Newhall. Most people died at home in the past and wakes were very common. His earliest memory of a wake was his neighbour's Maggie Pyne who died on 4th March 1942. She used to let him smoke the pipe with turf dust in it when he visited as a child. He remembers eating the burnt crust of the loaf of bread she baked in a small oven. Paddy's memory of the wake involved people coming to take snuff, or tea or drink. It was a custom of some people to go early to every wake not for the prayers but for the drink. |
| 01:00:01- 1:25:00 | PADDY AND THE FARMING COMMUNITY - Paddy did an agricultural course early on when his father had died. Tom Cahill of Corofin was instrumental in setting up the NFA when Charlie Haughey was Minister of Agriculture and farmers were then poorly represented. T.J Maher came to meetings as did Richard Deasy. The local committee in Kilmaley was active at the time and Paddy became vice chairman, deputy chairman and eventually chairman for four years of the IFA in Clare. He rotated between chairman and PRO for a period of 20 years. He was also involved in Golden Vale in an advisory capacity. He became vice chairman of Golden Vale representing the farmers. He was also chairman of the County Clare Show Society. Having served his time he returned to fulltime farming in Kilmaley. He is not happy with the way the salaries of the top executives of the IFA and had spiralled out of control. Paddy as part of a fact finding mission visited New Zealand during his term with the IFA and Golden Vale but their system of farming doesn't suit Ireland. Jersey cows were popular there but now they are changing to Friesians (Holsteins) which increased the amount of milk but decreased the butter fat. During their trip to New Zealand they visited Hawaii and Australia. Other trips brought the group to Poland, Germany, Slovakia, France and Denmark. The Kilmaley Farm was bought and run by Teagasc until eventually he became too expensive and it was sold and is now planted. Planting of coniferous trees can be detrimental to the purity of water as the pines are acidic and now they are planted away from lakes and streams. |
| File 4 00:00:01- 00:02:20 | SCHOOL - Paddy finishes the conversation by referring to the time he was in primary school in Kilmaley. A Christian Brother visited one day looking for boys to join the order. Paddy was interested but his father put paid to any idea he had of joining. His memory of the one year he spent in the CBS in Ennis was that all subjects were taught through the medium of Irish. This didn't suit as Paddy had very little Irish from his primary schooling in Kilmaley. He felt that St. Flannan's College would have been more suitable for him as English was the medium of instruction. |
| File 1 0:00:01 - 0:13:05 | PADDY'S FAMILY & FARMING - Paddy tells of his siblings and his grandparents families. His mother Susan Ryan, came from Gortbofarna, Inagh. Most of the marriages were 'matches' and he recalls his father making 'introductions' for suitable marriages. The amount of the dowry or 'fortune' was based on the size of the farm the woman was going into. Next Paddy describes the type of land on their 56 acre farm in Kilmaley. Tillage involved growing root and grain crops. Compulsory tillage was strictly enforced by department officials. The acreage of tillage depended on the amount of arable land a farmer had. All the work was done with horses. They also kept cows, cattle and sheep. Pyne's had a lime kiln and Paddy remembers the process of burning the limestone to get the lime for spreading on the land. Horses and carts collected the large blocks of limestone from a suitable quarry. It was then broken down with hammers into smaller stones. Next it was put in the kiln between layers of good turf and culm and burned. The fire wasn't allowed go out so during the night members of the family added extra layers until all the lime was burned. Burned lime was much better than ground lime for immediate response when put on the crops. The corn was cut and bound with a binding machine stooks and then stacks were made. Later in the year the thrashing machine came and the thrashing was done. By keeping a bull, the neighbours gave days for the services of the bull. Each field had its own name; one in particular was called 'the tollánÃn' where unbaptised babies were buried. Farmyard manure was used in the garden. |
| 0:13:06 - 0:16:40 | DR. HAYES - During the war time a Dr. Hayes lived in Kilmaley. He knew how sick a person was by looking at their hair and their eyes. He made up the medicinal bottled in the dispensary. Tablets were coming in at that time but the old doctor had no belief in tablets. Paddy's father suffered from pneumonia from time to time. Dr. Hayes advised him to put a second storey on the house as he needed more fresh air to alleviate the problem. Stones were quarried not far from the house, gravel was got in Ruan. They also bought trees in Ruan which were taken to the sawmills in Ennis which were used for the roof. The house was much healthier after and the grant almost paid for the work. |
| 0:16:41 - 0:1900 | CROMWELL AND KILMALEY - Priest/Friars were chased by the Cromwellian army from the Burren. They sought shelter in Kilmaley in a particular house but were refused. It is believed that the family were cursed. The friars sought shelter in small islands close by to escape the soldiers but that they lost their chalices in the lake. It is also local tradition that they were later killed by the soldiers in another part of the parish. |
| 0:19:01 - 0:23:55 | ORIGIN OF PYNE NAME - It is believed that the name came from France (probably Huguenots) escaping persecution. They changed their names so that they would not be identified. Other family name like Ash, Brown, Black Green and White may have done likewise. The Pyne trade was bridge building. Here Paddy recalls some memories of his grandmother Mary Hehir. He remembers her as a great worker but contrary. Originally from Dunsallagh near Miltown she ruled the roost in Kilmaley. When her daughter Molly was marrying Micko McGann of Kilmaley, a party was held in the bride's house before the evening wedding. She had the table cloths and towels washed and out drying on the hedge before they left for the wedding in the church |
| File 2 0:00:01 - 0:09:30 | ORIGIN OF PYNE NAME - It is believed that the name came from France (probably Huguenots) escaping persecution. They changed their names so that they would not be identified. Other family name like Ash, Brown, Black Green and White may have done likewise. The Pyne trade was bridge building. Here Paddy recalls some memories of his grandmother Mary Hehir. He remembers her as a great worker but contrary. Originally from Dunsallagh near Miltown she ruled the roost in Kilmaley. When her daughter Molly was marrying Micko McGann of Kilmaley, a party was held in the bride's house before the evening wedding. She had the table cloths and towels washed and out drying on the hedge before they left for the wedding in the church |
| 0:09:31--0:22:15 | PADDY HOGAN T.D/GRIFFIN'S SHOP, ENNIS/THE GAA - Paddy Hogan was a brother of Delia Hogan, Jack Pyne's wife. The Hogan family came from Connolly. Paddy was a barrister, Labour T.D. Leas Ceann Comhairle and Ceann Comhairle. The family was evicted from their family farm in his father's time. Paddy was a rural postman in his younger days. Paddy Pyne spent about five years in Griffin's drapery shop in Ennis after one year's secondary education at the CBS in Ennis. He served his time and got charge of a department and was put in charge of buying for the shop. The wages were very low in the beginning but increased up to £7-10 per week along with commission. He cycled the six miles to work but often stayed over the shop with Labrador dog and a loaded gun at night for protection. Fortunately he never had to use the gun. Paddy was involved in the GAA at the time and lots of the players came in to buy suits and shirts. Mick Murphy was one of the great hurlers from Kilmaley who won an All- Ireland with Tipperary. He mentioned Jimmy Smyth as a great hurler and Dan McInerney. Paddy trained a Kilmaley team to win a county Junior Championship in 1954. He also took up refereeing which lasted for ten years which stopped in 1968 when he married. He did gates as well, collecting the entrance money to matches and mentioned Paddy Hennessy of Miltown asking him to do the gates for a particular match. The GAA interfered with his visits to the seaside on Sundays. One Sunday when was very young he remembers going to Lahinch with a friend for Garland Sunday. |
| File 3 0:00:01 - 0:02:30 | CONTINUING WITH THE TRIP TO LAHINCH - The boys thumbed there, played a match on the beach and came home on the West Clare Railway train courtesy of Sinny McCormack. It stopped on the way back to Ennis, the boys got out and played with the football, got back on the train as it began moving again and walked from the station in Ennis back to Kilmaley |
| 0:02:32 - 0:14:20 | FARM - Describing his farm at home it was wet mineral soil. Here he repeats the process of burning limestone in the kiln. He mentions using the burnt lime in the gardens; they didn't travel to the seaside for sea sand as it too far away. A set of shoes for a horse could be worn out and inland farmers took great care of the working horses. Eustace's had the forge and a shop near the church in Kilmaley. Tom Eustace was the last to work there and he was also a member of the Kilfenora Céilà Band. Paddy often brought the horses to be shod. He remembers the process of reddening the iron, cutting it to the shape of a shoe and holing it for the nails. He liked blowing the bellows to redden the fire. He travelled to Dan McInerney's of Ennis with the pony and a cart having 8 or 9 bags of corn to be milled. It was brought home and gruel was made for the cattle. They also grew turnips, mangolds and beet. Thinning the beet was the most difficult part of growing the beet. Jim Maloney, a cousin from Freagh (Miltown Malbay) was brought to live with the Pyne's when he was a baby as his mother wasn't well. He died in 1969 in his 70's. He did all the jobs around the farm, summer and winter. In fact he ran the farm and could turn his hand to any type of work. Paddy describes digging the gardens by hand in the winter, milking the cows and eventually changing to dry stock in 1990.He goes on to cautiously predict that farming in Ireland will change dramatically in the near future. |
| 0:14:21 - 0:21:14 | POSTMEN/FAIRS - Pat Joe Murphy was one postman and Michael Hegarty from Inagh another. They brought lots of parcels around on bicycles especially at Christmas. Sometimes when the job got too much Michael hired either a pony and trap or a car. The Garda Barracks was in Connolly. Cattle fairs were held there but mostly the cattle were brought to the Fair Green in Ennis. He remembers a cousin of his father walking from near Miltown with cattle for the Ennis fair. He stayed at Pyne's for the night, the cattle were fed and the rest of the journey was done early the next morning. [Here Paddy is referring to Micko Hehir, Mountscott who was a cattle-dealer, to supplement his farm income. Micko later married into a farm in Monmore near Kilrush]. |
| 0:21:15 - 0:25:50 | THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE - A training camp was held in Kilmaley. His father had some involvement but not much. Paddy's outside farm in Inch held the remains of what was believed was a spy but the remains were later removed to somewhere else. Another man was held captive in Lisroe, thought to be someway connected with the enemy. He put a mark with a penknife on the back of a sugán chair. Sometime later he escaped and the forces of law and order visited the house, saw the mark on the chair and burned the house. The sugáns were made for tying the hay. Oaten or Rye straw was best for the sugáns for the chairs. The 'bough' was used to twist the hay or straw into sugáns. Sally rods were cut to make turf or potato scuttles which were used in the house or calf baskets put on the calves to prevent them sucking. |
| 0:25:51 - 0:33:20 | VISITS TO ENNIS AND THE COMING OF ELECTRICITY - When Paddy was younger he talks about travelling to Ennis to hurling matches in Cusack park. Usually he thumbed and once got a lift in the back of Coffey's lorry which he shared with dead animals. He describes how the square was full of people throwing hats and caps in the air and cheering as de Valera was making a speech before election time. In the mid 1950's Fr. O Brien, a native of Scariff, was curate in Kilmaley parish. He organised a deputation to meet Mr. Collins, the area manager of the ESB, in Limerick. Mary O Donnell a teacher from Inch, Mattie Fitzpatrick from Slieveen, representing the farmers and Paddy Pyne himself as an agricultural instructor were the members of the deputation. Paddy Hogan the local T.D. didn't make the meeting but a letter he sent was instrumental in getting the electricity to Kilmaley. Shortly afterwards the works started and the engineer Mr. Hickey came and stayed in lodgings in Tobin's shop. The ESB had a depot at Lynch's of Fairyhill where all the equipment and rolls of wire were stored. A Cullinan man from Toonagh with a horse got the job of pulling the poles to the positions they were needed. Local men were also employed digging the holes with shovels which gave much needed employment.MV Hehir bought his first tractor from money he received from the ESB for digging holes. He and his brother Tony later bought diggers which became their main livelihoods. The next job was getting the people to take the electricity which Paddy did in his part of the parish. The cost and the danger were some concerns as many houses were thatched at the time (early 1960's). But the enterprise was successful, everyone took the electricity and the fairies disappeared from the parish. |
| 0:33:21 - 0:54:22 | RELIGION AND WATER SUPPLY - Serving Mass was one of Paddy's first introductions to formal religion. He learned the Latin responses after school hours and served mass for different priests. He mentions a Fr. Roche who chastised the altar boys for mistakes but who also looked after their well-being in the form of money when stations were said in houses. Saying the rosary was never missed nor was confession. The Missioners came to the parish for a week and the greatest sin of the times was 'company-keeping'. The strict side of the church was not allowing a man who was on the run and who committed suicide in a local lake, into the church before burial. The tinkers were a great asset to the community in that they made and repaired leaking buckets, pans and cans. A well close to the farm house had clear water which the local doctor got analysed as magnesia water. Paddy himself has the gift of water divining with the hazel rods or rods producing fruit. The Kilmaley Water Scheme is a Co-Op. and the water source is Lough na Minna. It supplies water to over 2,000 homes. The Ennis water supply came from Ballyvoe, Inch originally but now it comes from Ballyalla, Drumcliffe. Paddy describes the water supply from Ballyvoe in great detail which is still in standby if there are problems with the supply from Drumcliffe. There are holy wells in the parish which were frequented in times gone by but not anymore. One holy well was near Loughburke. It is said that a local saint got the well moved to the other side of the lake because people were washing their clothes in the well instead of in the lake. The footprints of the saint were believed to be seen on the flagstone in front of where the original well was. The slavery associated with drawing water from wells, washing clothes etc. has gone since the installation of running water. Both male and female are now not as fit as they were once and as a result the gyms and slimming regimes have taken the place of the hard physical labour. |
| 00:54:23—00:60:00 | PARISH BOUNDARIES AND WAKES - Inch was once part of the parish of Drumcliffe (Ennis) until a priest Fr. Lynch got it annexed to the Kilmaley parish. Most of the older families who live in Inch still use the Drumcliffe graveyard for burials, some people in Connolly use Inagh and Lower Inch use the graveyard in Joyce's of Newhall. Most people died at home in the past and wakes were very common. His earliest memory of a wake was his neighbour's Maggie Pyne who died on 4th March 1942. She used to let him smoke the pipe with turf dust in it when he visited as a child. He remembers eating the burnt crust of the loaf of bread she baked in a small oven. Paddy's memory of the wake involved people coming to take snuff, or tea or drink. It was a custom of some people to go early to every wake not for the prayers but for the drink. |
| 01:00:01- 1:25:00 | PADDY AND THE FARMING COMMUNITY - Paddy did an agricultural course early on when his father had died. Tom Cahill of Corofin was instrumental in setting up the NFA when Charlie Haughey was Minister of Agriculture and farmers were then poorly represented. T.J Maher came to meetings as did Richard Deasy. The local committee in Kilmaley was active at the time and Paddy became vice chairman, deputy chairman and eventually chairman for four years of the IFA in Clare. He rotated between chairman and PRO for a period of 20 years. He was also involved in Golden Vale in an advisory capacity. He became vice chairman of Golden Vale representing the farmers. He was also chairman of the County Clare Show Society. Having served his time he returned to fulltime farming in Kilmaley. He is not happy with the way the salaries of the top executives of the IFA and had spiralled out of control. Paddy as part of a fact finding mission visited New Zealand during his term with the IFA and Golden Vale but their system of farming doesn't suit Ireland. Jersey cows were popular there but now they are changing to Friesians (Holsteins) which increased the amount of milk but decreased the butter fat. During their trip to New Zealand they visited Hawaii and Australia. Other trips brought the group to Poland, Germany, Slovakia, France and Denmark. The Kilmaley Farm was bought and run by Teagasc until eventually he became too expensive and it was sold and is now planted. Planting of coniferous trees can be detrimental to the purity of water as the pines are acidic and now they are planted away from lakes and streams. |
| File 4 00:00:01- 00:02:20 | SCHOOL - Paddy finishes the conversation by referring to the time he was in primary school in Kilmaley. A Christian Brother visited one day looking for boys to join the order. Paddy was interested but his father put paid to any idea he had of joining. His memory of the one year he spent in the CBS in Ennis was that all subjects were taught through the medium of Irish. This didn't suit as Paddy had very little Irish from his primary schooling in Kilmaley. He felt that St. Flannan's College would have been more suitable for him as English was the medium of instruction. |