More than 30 years ago my wife and I spotted a tiny thatched cottage in south Wexford. This mud-walled homestead, built in 1740, or thereabouts, had been in the same family for generations. But now, the last occupying member of that family had died, and this very snug cottage, which had stood firm against the many windy storms and political upheavals of the intervening centuries, was in great danger of disintegrating and disappearing. But it didn’t. We bought it.
In the years since we have become custodians of this small piece of our national heritage. Our entire family has spent many idyllic weeks and months lovingly living, holidaying and restoring, as best we can, the thatch and the mud walls of this special house.
It’s a constant task requiring careful planning and budgeting to make sure that the thatch is kept in good order so the rain doesn’t leak in at the eves and wash away those centuries-old mud walls.
Constant, too, are the reminders of just how desperately poor so many households in Ireland were until recent times. One example of this can be seen in the pair of scissors in the photograph. We found them in a drawer in the kitchen and they were obviously much valued.
Look carefully and you’ll see that they are broken in two places. One of the points has snapped off, but that obviously wasn’t a reason to throw away such a precious household item. And then an even bigger disaster struck: the entire right-hand handle broke off.
It was time for someone to fashion a new handle out of a carefully twisted piece of fencing wire. They did it. And those twice-repaired, and surprisingly sharp, scissors still function today, possibly almost as good as they ever were. To me, in these times of cutbacks and doing without, it acts as a timely reminder of just how hard our ancestors had to work to shape the Ireland that we enjoy today.
- We would love to receive your family memories, anecdotes, traditions, mishaps and triumphs. Email 350 words and a relevant photograph if you have one to familyfortunes@irishtimes.com. A fee will be paid
