NAN McSWEENEY (née McNeale), BORN 1924, BEAGH, ARDARA

Nan McSweeney grew up beside the sea at Kentucky in a thatched cottage. Her mother died while Nan was very young and she was reared by her aunt and uncle. Her granduncle would relate stories to her about the famine. She discusses the old cures and the use of seaweed and carrageen moss, the local diet, and the fact that the smoking of tobacco was used as a disinfectant. At the age of thirty-three she married Danny Sweeney and moved to Beagh. She recalls the town of Ardara at that time, the people, their occupations and businesses. She discusses the cleaning and dyeing of wool by local women in their homes, for later collection and sale to the merchants. She has a clear memory of becoming involved in local work for the Folklore Commission in 1939 to transcribe the information gathered by the local schoolchildren.