Patrick Quirke (b. 1935)
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Patrick Quirke (b. 1935)

10.0020.00

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The Quirke family home is situated beside the old railway line. At one time Patrick Quirke’s maternal Greaney family were in residence, and the old building was originally thatched. Patrick begins by telling a story about an occasion when a spark from the train set the thatch ablaze in the 1920s. The house dates back to the early 1800s and was once known as a Drinking House. A mug always hung beside the door. Patrick recalls churning the butter which would go to Tralee for sale, and carting pigs and sheep to Tralee Fair in the 1950s and early 1960s. When rural electrification was introduced to the peninsula, Patrick was offered a job as a pole climber, bringing the current to Castlegregory. He recalls these days in some detail.
Sheep farming on the mountain is another topic explored. The rearing, the shearing, the selling of the wool and the sheep fairs are described, and the commonage, the agreement between neighbouring sheep farmers, is mentioned. The local field names were recalled, as are the families who moved from the mountainside to superior and flatter land by the sea shore where seaweed was used for fertilizer. The local old mill used for spinning wool in bygone day is remembered. This structure was later used as a ball alley where Patrick and his friends would play until it was knocked by the Co. Council for use as trunking for roads.

Page

Additional information

Type:

Disk, MP3

Audio series:

Tralee-Dingle Narrow Gauge Railway Collection

Bitrate:

128 kbps

Download time limit:

48 hours

File size(s):

49.2 MB

Number of files:

1

Product ID:

CDTDR01-11

Subject:

sheep-farming-and-rural-electrification

Recorded by:

Maurice O'Keeffe – Irish Life and Lore