MARY JO McGEE (née Gallagher), BORN 1939, GLASSERCHOO, GWEEDORE

This recording was compiled at the home of Mary Jo McGee, which once housed the local shop. She recalls her background; she had seven sisters and five brothers, and her parents were small farmers at Meenlaragh in the parish of Gweedore. She married at the age of nineteen and decided to open a shop at her new home at Glasserchoo to facilitate the new Irish College which opened in 1953 and the islanders from Inishbofin who would come for provisions. She describes the stock she sold and the people who would shop at her premises and exchange news of interest, which would then be dispersed around the community. She also recalls and describes the local folk cures, the wake practices and the forecasting of weather conditions.