On a visit to the home of Mary O’Neill (67) I met her sister-in-law Lucy. (70) They both grew up in the village of Cromane where Mary’s father was a tailor in the village, and Lucy came from a farming and fishing background. It was interesting to record facts about tailoring life in the countryside, as well as the seasonal fishing and farming practices of the local community. The fishermen would drag the mussel beds while far out at sea up onto the boats and into shore, where they would prepare mussels for the market by cleaning and tanking them. In this first part of the interview, other local customs were recalled.
Keywords: Cromane village, tailor, fisherman’s cottage, farming, fishing, harvesting, muscle beds, mussel factory, Knights of the Road, emigration
