History: Toughanane, Mayo By Tom McDonnell April 10, 2002 *********************************************** Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives Mayo Index Copyright ************************************************ File contributed by: Adrian Willson molobolo@btinternet.com December 5, 2012, 6:32 am TOUGHANANE BY THOMAS MCDONNELL I have been requested to record my earliest memories of the people and their way of life in Toocananagh in the 'nineties and the early years ofthe present century (20th). In those days the Townsland was divided into three villages: Balla Na Hora, Aughteen Sogarth and Bahaloohera, all very densely populated. In Balla Na Hora for instance, Patsy O'Hora had five sons and I believe three daughters. His nearest neighbour, Hubert O'Hora, had eleven in family; P. Flannery had eight; next came Martin O'Hora with six children and Bridget Cavanagh with three. Those five houses have now gone. Going north, we come to Paddy Berry. Ido not remember his parents but I knew Paddy Berry very well indeed. Their nearest neighbour was William Clarke with six children. The two houses have now disappeared. The Clarke family emigrated, but Paddy Berry's daughter married and lives locally. Next came the Byrne family. I only knew the two sons, Martin and Michael. Martin's descendants are still there. South of Balla Na Hora, there lived Patsy Dunleavy who had four children whom Iknew Pat, Michael, Nora and Ann. Pat built a house for himself, married, but died fairly young leaving a large family. As Iunderstand, Michael did not marry but the sister did. Next to Patsy Dunleavy lived Dennis Deacy with his mother. These were related to Tom J. Deacy who lived close by with six children, all of whom have either died or left the neighbourhood. Patrick Ulick Dunleavy had seven in family and as far as I can understand none of them are now living. All the houses, including the one built by Pat Dunleavy in my day, have gone. In Aughteen Sogarth lived Jack Coleman, Paddy Gallagher and Tom Deacy. They each had eight in family. The Gallagher house still exists but is unoccupied. The Coleman and Deacy houses have been replaced and are occupied by their descendants. Going towards Bohola, we come to John Deacy's, occupied by his son and daughter. Nearby live the descendants of D. Killgallon who had six in family. In Bahaloohera there were four houses occupied by McDonnells, Clarkes, Kellys and Hunters. There were eight in the McDonnell family, two in Clarkes, three in Kellys and four in Hunters. The houses of the McDonnells and Kellys have been replaced and their descendants still live there but the Clarkes and Hunters have gone. South of Bahaloohera lived Patch the fiddler (McNicholas) with two sons, Michael and James, both of whom emigrated to America. Then came Monaghans, of whom Miles, the eldest of the family, also went to America. Lower down lived Nancy O'Hare (another McNicholas) with one son, Tom. The last in this line of houses, Brogan's, had almost disappeared in my very young days. Going north, towards Bohola, were two more families: John and James Dunleavy. They were each blessed with nine children and are still well represented in the neighbourhood. Next to Dunleavys was John Clark, with two daughters. The family is still represented there. Food It will be seen that vast numbers lived in Toocananagh and few were rich yet there was never a question of real poverty. Every house had cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese. Each grew vast quantities of potatoes, cabbage and swedes, oats and rye. The potatoes were generally lifted and put in clamps in the fields in which they grew and were left there until required. The clamps were protected from frost by covering them with straw or rushes and about six inches of soil. The corn was cut with scythes, tied into sheaves and put into stooks of about twelve sheaves. After a few dry days the stooks were doubled up and when properly dried they were taken into the haggard and stacked. These stacks were thrashed by flail as required during the winter months and after the corn was riddled and winnowed it was placed in sacks and taken to the mill at Ballyvary and ground for cattle food and oatmeal. The owner then had the offer of money for the corn or the oatmeal after payment for services. The women in the houses always made their own butter and had always eggs to sell. They carded and spun their own wool with which they made their own blankets, socks, stockings and so forth; each house had its own spinning-wheel. Dress On Sundays the young men wore white cord or moleskin bell-bottom trousers . These were narrow at the knee and the calf of the leg was very prominent. The shirts were plain; no collars or ties were worn until after the Boer War, just a muffler and cap. As the men grew older, the dress changed: dark trousers worn with a frock coat. The coat had two metal buttons at the back and two rows of similar buttons in the front. They wore linen shirts with collars attached. The outfit was completed by the wearing of semi-tall hats. All the older women wore black dresses with bonnets and capes, the latter coming down to their waists. In later years as the fashions changed the young ladies changed from long dresses to the hobble skirts, and so on. Education The children from Balla Na Hora went to Tooremeen school and the rest of the children to Carragowan school. In the summertime the boys and girls crossed the fields in their bare feet but in the winter they went round Bohola in some kind of footwear. During the winter months each boy took two sods ofturf each day for heating the school. Recreation The young men generally gathered together on some little hill to play Hop, Skip and Jump on Sunday afternoons. Not having a 'shot' they made the best use of a round stone to do the 'putting'. During the winter months dances were held in local barns and the music was provided by accordion players and fiddlers; but by1908/9 all this died out. This was a great pity as the best step-dancers always gave an exhibition of their skill at these dances. It was not uncommon for the grownup young men to meet in P. Clarke's, W. Keary's or J. O'Connor's for the occasional drink. Generally they would be in small groups: four, five or six. They would order a quart or gallon of porter. The price was four pence per quart or fifteen pence per gallon.