Introduction

Under the landlords the land was let to the tenants, who formed two distinct social groups. The "bold tenant farmer" leased twenty or more acres, and, while not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, these tenants were comfortable enough and had sufficient, even in the worst years, to pay their rent, feed and clothe their families, and save some money besides. Rents at the beginning of the nineteenth century ranged from £1.50 to £2 per acre. Potatoes sold for around 10p a hundredweight, while a hundredweight of oaten meal sold for 40p. In times of want these prices increased. In 1802, for example, potato prices shot up to 30p per hundredweight and oaten meal rose to £1.50 per hundredweight. The tenants also had to pay grand jury cesses (county taxes) that amounted to around 21/2p per acre. Despite these charges, the tenant farmers maintained a reasonable life-style, particularly in the second half of the eighteenth century when the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic wars disrupted international trade and ensured high grain prices.

The second class of tenant was the poor cottier who rented grazing space for one or two cows and a small garden. Some of these people were entirely landless and were labourers for the landlords and the tenant farmers. The tradition of tenant farmers of quite moderate means, having only twenty or thirty acres, employing "servant boys" and "servant girls" continued into the first half of the present century. Cottiers and their children who had reached the age of twelve or so hired themselves out at hiring fairs and markets for twelve months. In return they got their food and lodgings for the year and a sum of money. Day labourers received 2p to 3p per day, as well as breakfast and dinner. The survival of the cottiers and labourers on such low wages would have been impossible had it not been for two factors. Firstly, the potato was an excellent source of food, and a small garden of one or two acres could comfortably feed a family for a year. Secondly, the linen and woolen industries were strong in the area and the women of the household could contribute to the family budget by spinning linen and woolen thread in their own homes.

The importance of day labour and spinning increased as the population grew. The number of people in the country generally grew steadily during the eighteenth century and literally exploded in the first half of the nineteenth century. In 1800 the national population was 5 million; by 1841 it had reached over eight million. In the same year the parish of Rossinver, excluding that part that lay in Co. Sligo, had a population of 13,289, while Kinlough village had a population of 277. Had the land of the parish been divided equally among the inhabitants each would have got around 3.5 acres. Density per square mile was 174, an incredible figure by today's standards.

Enclosure and Deforestation

At the beginning of the eighteenth century much of Dartry was woodland, with the cleared land being unfenced and held in common by the farmers. During the course of the century the woods were gradually cut back, so that, by 1800, only the woods of Tawly, Dernavoggy and Aghadunvane remained. The timber was used both for fuel and as a cash crop, sold to the timber manufacturers in Sligo and the iron smelting works in Garrison. By 1850 the countryside was almost completely denuded of trees, the only trees remaining being in the landlord's demesne. During the eighteenth century, also, the common land was gradually enclosed by fences of stones or sods. This enclosure of the fields happened much later in Leitrim than in the rest of the country, and unfenced land was still held in common in the parish until the nineteenth century. Under the old commonage system farmers were allotted small strips of land, and when enclosure occurred, these strips were often enclosed, giving the familiar pattern of small fields. When the survey for the first O.S. maps took place in the 1830s, enclosure was almost complete and the present-day pattern of fields was already in place. By the end of the nineteenth century, enclosure was completed, and only grazing rights on the Dartry mountains were still held in common. The word "mearing", which referred to the imaginary line dividing one common plot from another has continued in use to the present day.

For a long time tenants in the parish were discouraged from improving their lands by the threat of increased rents. During the nineteenth century, however, more security of tenure saw the gradual draining of the land. The construction of a tilery on the Johnston lands in Aghadunvane for the manufacture of clay drainage tiles encouraged this work, and the tiles laid down in the last century still serve as drains for many fields. Trenches filled with stones and covered with earth also served as drains, and open drains or "sheughs" abounded.

The majority of the people had little or no education. Only 19% of the parish could read and write in 1841; a further 17% could read but not write, while 50% were classed as completely illiterate. Illiteracy continued into the present century, with 62 males and 81 females classed as illiterate in the Kinlough area in 1901.

Crops

The principal crops were oats, potatoes and flax. The general rotation was potatoes, flax, followed by numerous crops of oats. This tended to exhaust the land, though manure, seaweed and burnt lime were used as fertilisers. The English system of allowing land to lie fallow for a period, and thus regenerate itself, was not used. Land was cultivated with a wooden plough or, more commonly, a loy. The loy was a long bladed spade, difficult to work and heavy to use. Potatoes were planted in ridges or "lazy beds", so called because they seemed to be the lazy farmer's method of planting. In reality this method of growing potatoes was very suitable for North Leitrim because it raised the potatoes above the level of the wet ground. The traces of these lazy beds can still be seen all over the parish.

Most work was done manually. Loads were carried in large wicker baskets called creels, which were carried on the back and whose use has only very recently died out. Larger tenant farmers kept a horse both for riding and for work. The wheel-less slide-car or slipe of the early eighteenth century evolved into a solid-wheeled cart and then into a light two-wheeled cart with iron-shod wooden wheels in the nineteenth century.

The Linen Industry

As has been mentioned earlier, the linen industry was very important in the area during the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century. Flax was a common crop in the area, and fields in the parish are still known as "flax fields". There was a flax mill at Mullinaleck where the flax was scutched, and flax holes where the flax was soaked before scutching were common. As late as 1835 Leitrim still had four bleach greens where the freshly woven brown linen was laid out to bleach in the sun. In 1796 a total of 82 farmers in Rossinver parish received premia from the Flax Board for sowing flaxseed. The 1841 census for Rossinver parish gives the following statistics on occupation:

Production of Food:     3049 males 67 females.
Clothing :                       149 males 1762 females.
Lodgings etc.                  79 males 1 female.

These figures show that 26% of the women in the parish were involved in the spinning and weaving of linen and wool. There were two fairs in the area. The fair of Kinlough was held on the sixth of every month, and the fair of Tullaghan was held four times a year - May 25^th, August 4^th, November 5^th and December 15^th.

As the population exploded in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, farms became smaller and smaller as farmers divided up their holdings among their children. Most of the land was under cultivation, with little pasture and meadow. The O.S. survey of 1835 showed the following townlands as being either mostly or completely under crops: Boyney, Bomahas, Edenville, Gubbenumera, Gannavagh, Kinlough, Knockenroe, Park and Sragarve. The American War of Independence (1775 - 1783) and the wars with France (1793 - 1815) disrupted international trade and ensured good prices for flax, wool and grain. The coming of peace after 1815 brought cotton back onto the British market, and linen prices tumbled. The installation of spinning looms in Belfast ended the cottage industry of flax spinning. Grain prices fell, and the price of cattle rose. The consequences of these events for the cottiers were terrible. They could not now earn money from flax spinning, and the decline in corn production meant that fewer labourers were required. They were left to depend exclusively on the potato as a food source. The potato crops, while generally dependable, often suffered partial failures, notably in 1816 and 1821. As the population grew and the numbers totally dependent on the potato increased, the scene was set for a major catastrophe. For many people in the parish the first forty years of the nineteenth century were years of penury and hunger. Worse was to come.

The Famine Years

Potato blight first appeared in September 1845 and caused the failure of the potato crop over the next three years. The cottiers and the landless, dependent as they were on the potato, were now foodless and had no money with which to buy food. The inevitable result was starvation. The tenant farmers, with their larger holdings and stocks of money, did not starve. The fevers and other diseases, which accompanied the famine, did not, however, respect money or class and spread throughout the community. The Rector of Rossinver parish, Rev. Archibald St. George, died of plague in January 1851 at the age of 46. The population of the parish dropped from 13,566 to 10, 989 between 1841 and 1851, a decline of 25%.

Local tradition is mostly silent on the famine. The story, told by my great-grandfather, of meeting a man on the Dartry road late one night in 1847, who was taking his father for burial in a creel on his back, illustrates the feeling of shame that hunger evoked in the people of Dartry. People who had always been proud of being able to feed themselves and their families did not speak of death by hunger. Though they were helpless to prevent it, the people of Dartry bore famine and disease in silence.

There were attempts to alleviate the awfulness of the famine. The local landlords formed a Rossinver Relief Committee in 1847. James Johnston was chairman, Robert St. George Johnston was treasurer and secretary was John R. Dickson. A total of £520 was collected from local landowners and larger tenants in that year. This was augmented by a grant of £73 paid by the Commissariat Relief Office in Dublin Castle. The following were some of the contributors to the fund:

A letter of 6 May 1847 from James Johnston to the Commissariat Relief Office notes that there were about 500 people from the parish in the workhouse on 30 January 1847. Rossinver parish was in the Ballyshannon Poor Law Union, and most of the destitute went to Ballyshannon workhouse. Many of those who contracted fever during the famine years were sent to the Ballyshannon Fever Hospital (now De La Salle secondary school). A number of public works for the relief of the hungry were started. Famine roads were constructed at Tullaghan and Derrynaseer. Some work on the landlords' estates was also carried out as relief works at this time. It is impossible to ascertain how many people in the parish died as a result of the famine. The population of the parish as a whole declined by 25% in the ten years from 1841 to 1851, but this decline was made up from a combination of deaths from hunger and fever, and emigration. Baptisms at St. Aidan's show a decline during the period. Before the famine, in 1841, the number baptised was 173.

Numbers marked with an asterisk (*) denote years where some of the records are missing. The figures for December 1851 are missing, and the completeness of the 1852 records is doubtful. The trend during and immediately after the Famine - 1846 to 1853 - shows a decline of over 52% in baptisms in the parish. The birth rate in the parish recovered slightly in the years following 1860, but show a general decline after 1875, when the number baptised exceeded 100 for the last time. By 1900 baptisms had dropped to 62, by 1940 to 34 and by 1970 to 19. These figures show not only the immediate effect of the Famine on the population figures, but the debilitating effect of the post-Famine emigration.

The marriage rate recovered in the 1850s, reaching 35 in 1859, but from then on marriages, like births, show a steady decline. By 1900 marriages in the parish had dropped to 11.

Figures for the percentage decline in population between 1841 and 1851 give an indication of the townlands that suffered most. It is noticeable that, though most townlands suffered a decline, some actually managed to increase their population during the ten years. There were noticeable increases in Cloonawillan, Bunduff and Park. The decline in Aghadunvane is partly due to eviction.

While deaths from hunger and disease were a sad feature of this period, there were more devastating consequences for Dartry and Leitrim from the second feature of the famine years - the beginning of emigration. While some emigration had taken place before the famine, it was only in the period from 1850 onwards that people began to leave Dartry in appreciable numbers. The age-old tradition of dividing farms among all the sons of the family began to die out and a new custom gradually took its place - the passing on of the farm in its entirety to one son only (generally the eldest) - and the migration/emigration of the rest of the children. The better - off tenant farmers could afford to pay their children's fares to America when they came of age. The poorer labourers and cottiers depended on chain emigration. They clubbed together to pay one child's way to America, and that child earned the next child's passage. In this way most of the family emigrated one by one.

America was the destination of most of the emigrants. Sailing from Sligo and Derry, they knew that they would never return. Much has been written of the suffering of the poorer emigrants in the coffin ships, and of the terrible conditions they endured when they finally arrived in the New World. That so many survived and prospered in America is a tribute to their courage and tenacity. The money they and their descendants sent back kept many a family alive during hard times.

The consequences of emigration for Dartry and Leitrim cannot be overstated. From 1851 to the present day there has been a continuous decline in the population of the parish. Emigration intensified in the 1860s and 1870s. The census of 1911 shows that , while 5.4% of the parish were aged 35 - 40, 9% were aged 10 -15 and a startling 8.6% were 70 - 75 years old. This imbalance continues today. The extent of the decline can be judged from the fact that Kinlough parish, which had seven national schools in 1897 - Askill N.S., Buckode N.S., Tawly N.S., Kinlough C. of I. N.S., Uragh N.S., Tullaghan N.S. and Edenville N.S. has, a century later, only one school - Four Masters N.S., Kinlough.

Dartry 1850 - 1950

Following the trauma of the famine years a style of life evolved which would remain basically unchanged for a century. The land was inherited by one of the sons, and most of the family emigrated. While there were daughters living at home the son of the house could not marry. This led to a gradual increase in the age of marriage, and it was not uncommon for farmers to wait until their 40s and 50s before getting married. Some never married at all, and the number of unmarried men and women in the parish remained a notable feature during the period.

Farmers, labourers and indoor servants formed the bulk of the population. The decline in the population meant the farm sizes gradually increased, and a mixed type of farming evolved. The farmer kept cows for milk, dry cattle for sale, a pig or two for bacon, hens for eating and eggs, a donkey or horse for work, corn for grain and straw, potatoes and vegetables for the table and some sheep for wool and meat. Farm families were mostly self-sufficient, and the only major cash purchases were salt, tobacco, clothes and farm implements. The style of farming remained unchanged for most of the century.

Fuel

Turf was the usual fuel for most families, and most farms had turbary rights attached. It was cut in the local bogs - Tawly, Curragh Ban and Arroo Mountain. Cutting began in March/April. A turf bank of two to three feet wide and fifty yards or more long was marked out. The covering of moss and heather (paring) was removed and spread in the bog hole. Then the heavy work of cutting began. Two or three men cut the turf with turf spades (spades with right-angled blades), while others, including the women and children, took the wet turf away in barrows and spread them out to dry. Working with the turf was a back-breaking job, and the workers welcomed the tea break. A fire of last-year's turf and bog oak was lit, eggs were put in a can to boil, and the kettle was boiled for tea. Sitting down to a meal of eggs, tea and home-made bread, the workers could see scores of cooking fires dotted throughout the bog. After the tea some of the men might ramble over to a neighbouring turfbank for a chat. The Angelus bell was the usual signal that it was time to pack up for the day and return home to do the evening chores.

The turf cutting took several days, and the turf were then left for a period to dry. Between April and September the bog was regularly re-visited to turn the turf, put them in little stacks of six or seven (footings), gather them into larger stacks (clamps), and finally carry them to the road in large baskets (creels) which were carried on the back or in twin baskets (pardógs) which were carried on each side of a donkey. Once by the roadside the turf were built in a stack ready for carting home. Carting was done with donkey or horse. High slatted sides (crates) were attached to the cart and the turf was built as high as possible on the cart. The turf built above the crates was called the "criven", and those bad at crivening might find half their load of turf collapsing onto the road on their way home. Once all the turf was home it was built into a long stack. The turf on the outside of the stack were carefully arranged like slates to throw the water off. This layering of the outside turf was called the "free". Finally the stack was thatched and made ready for the winter.

Those who had no bog rights made do with timber and sticks, or bought turf from those who had extra. Some farmers made extra money by cutting turf for sale. Only the relatively affluent were in a position to buy coal. Some of the poorer farmers occasionally resorted to theft, and clamps or stacks of turf on the bog might shrink appreciably or disappear altogether. The result was numerous cases of turf larceny appearing before the local court.

Occasional moments of excitement punctuated the tedium of the bog. A donkey or horse might sink in a bog hole, and all hands would rush to the rescue. Some incautious farmer might seek to remove heather by burning it, and succeed in setting much of the bog on fire. Once again all would rush with shovels and wet bags to halt the conflagration. An occasional dispute over boundaries would erupt and fists would fly.

The Creamery

Until the famine most of the parish was under cultivation. It was only when farm sizes began to increase in the last half of the nineteenth century that more grassland became available and farmers began to keep cattle in appreciable quantities. One or two cows were kept for milk for the family, while the rest of the cattle were kept to breed replacements or for sale. Other than those kept on the landlord's estate or by the richer farmers, the cattle were generally of poor quality.

One of the most significant events for the tenants of the nineteenth century was the setting up of Kinlough Co-Operative Agricultural and Dairy Society, or, as it was known locally, "The Creamery". Before the setting up of the Creamery, local farmers had no regular source of income. They could only get cash when they had an animal to sell at the fair or when a saleable crop matured. The establishment of the Creamery meant that farmers could now look forward to getting a cheque for milk each month. The attractiveness of a regular income permanently changed farming methods in the parish. The old system of mixed farming declined, as did the acreage under crops, and dairying became the mainstay of many farms. So central to the farming economy did it become that farms were locally measured not in acres but in "cows' places". A cottier might have "one cow's place", while a more prosperous farmer would have six or seven "cow's place".

The Creamery was first registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1893 on 4^th May 1897. The main driving force behind the new development was St. George Robert Johnston of Mount Prospect. "Sainty", who had studied modern farming methods and saw the advantages to the area of a creamery, was the first secretary of the society. The other members of the committee were Arthur Johnston, William Moore, Patrick McSharry, Cormick McGowan, Thomas Nicholson, P.J. Fergus and John Johnston.

Rule three of the society set out its objectives - "to carry on the occupations of commission agents, wholesale and retail dealers in farm and garden produce, seeds, artificial manures, dairymen, manufacturers of butter, cheese and other dairy produce, exporters and importers of live stock and general dealers in any other class of goods the committee may direct. To obtain and disseminate useful information among its members, to develop and promote the agricultural movement in Ireland, and to carry on any occupation of manufacture in any way allied to agriculture." The society was to be financed by shares costing a pound each, and run by a general manager and a committee of shareholders, two thirds of whom would have at least five shares each.

The creamery building was opened in May 1898, the society started trading, and continued for three quarters of a century. Despite the wide remit given to it under rule three, the creamery concentrated on the extraction and sale of cream from milk, the purchase and resale of turkeys and eggs, and the sale of whole milk, coal and fertilisers. Over 400 farmers supplied milk, there was a workforce of eight, and up to 15 carters transported milk to and from the creamery. The sale of eggs and turkeys provided pin money for the farm wives, and turkey plucking gave seasonal employment to many. At its peak the creamery provided some form of income to nearly six hundred people in the area. The creamery was also important in that it provided the only means of credit to most farmers. Many local funerals were financed with money obtained on credit from the creamery.

At the beginning of the present century farms were still small and most suppliers had between one and five cows. The cows were milked manually morning and evening, and the milk stored in milk churns, each holding ten or twelve gallons. To keep the milk from turning sour the churns were immersed in a river or pond. The favourite milking breed was the dairy shorthorn, but cows of any and every breed were kept. The milk supply reached a maximum in the summer months and declined greatly in the winter. Farm wives helped with the milking, the farmer having "his" cows that he milked and his wife having "her" cows. Milking demanded strong arms and back, and many a farmer bore these physical attributes in mind when looking for a wife.

Some farmers transported their own milk to the creamery, especially if they had a sizable number of cows, or if there was a under-employed son on the farm, but the majority delegated the job to carters. The carter collected the churns from the farm gate each day with a horse and cart or a donkey and cart, and was paid around 10% of the value of the milk he transported by the farmers.

On arrival at the creamery the milk was measured and samples were taken for butter fat content. It then went to a hot-water pasteuriser, and the cream was then separated. The cream was cooled in a water cooler and poured into cream churns to be taken to Manorhamilton creamery for manufacture into butter. The "skim" (skimmed milk) was returned to the suppliers' cans and the carter delivered the cans back to the farm gate. The skim was used in baking and to feed calves and pigs. It also featured strongly in the diet of the farm dogs and cats.

At the end of each month the carter delivered the creamery cheques to the farmers. The amount paid depended on the number of gallons supplied during the month and the butterfat content of the milk - the higher the butterfat the higher the price paid. The creamery deducted cartage which was paid to the carter. Two members of the committee signed the cheques. The creamery also bought eggs produced locally and shipped them to England. Eggs were also supplied to the hotels in Bundoran. Farmers' wives also reared turkeys and the creamery bought these before Christmas, killed, plucked, dressed, boxed and exported to England. Twenty to twenty five locals were employed on a casual basis to pluck the turkeys. In the 1950s pluckers were paid 6d for each hen bird plucked and 9d for each cock. Many a young man in the parish got his first cash-money plucking turkeys at the creamery. Farmers who grew oats for cattle, horses or poultry could take it to the creamery for crushing or rolling. The creamery operated six days a week in summer and three days a week in winter.

The first manager of the creamery was Mr. Sheehan. The longest serving manager was Tom Murphy who took up duty in 1927 and served until his death in 1962. The last manager was Hubert Gallagher, who transferred to Tubbercurry in 1984. Permanent employees have included Jimmy Kelly, Paddy McGowan, Owen McGowan, Dominic Feeley, James McGowan, Margaret Clancy, Mary Feeley and Pat Kerrigan. Currently Mai Carney and Peter Torney staff the creamery.

The changing financial and agricultural climate of the 1960s and 1970s meant that a small collecting creamery like Kinlough could no longer survive alone. Amalgamation with Manorhamilton creamery was investigated at the end of the 1960s, and amalgamation with the North Connacht group of creameries took place in the 1970s. The separation of cream ceased in Kinlough and local milk was transported to Drumholme for separation. Accession to the EEC brought stringent regulations controlling the production of milk and better prices for dry cattle, and almost all farmers in the area ceased dairying and switched instead to dry cattle. The old creamery was demolished in 1984 and the building that replaced it is now operated as an agricultural and general store by NCF. Though the name lives on, the era of the creamery as a central institution in the parish is finally over.

Livestock

Pigs were kept on most farms. Fed on milk, potatoes, dock leaves and household scraps, they were kept until fat and then slaughtered. Almost every townland had someone skilled in slaughtering pigs. The carcass was dismembered, some of the joints were eaten immediately, and the remainder was salted by soaking in brine and hung from the kitchen ceiling. Nothing was wasted. Blood was used to make black puddings and even the heads and feet were consumed. The salted bacon was the major source of meat for most families during the winter. Hens, ducks and geese were kept in large quantities. They provided a regular source of eggs and meat for the family. A farmer's breakfast would often include two hen eggs or a duck egg.

Larger farmers kept one or two horses, while the smaller farmers made do with a donkey. Horses were used for ploughing, carting and transporting the family. The type of horse kept depended on the size of the farm, with larger farmers keeping the Irish Draught and smaller farmers keeping a light pony. Most horse-owning families had a trap, a light rubber-shod cart with seats. On Sundays the horse was groomed, the heavy work-harness was exchanged for light leather harness, and the trap was hitched up to transport the family to church. Men liked to display the trotting abilities of their horses on Sunday mornings, and tried to avoid being overtaken on the road by a neighbour with a better horse. When the family arrived in the village the horse was unyoked. The trap was parked on the street and the horse was led to a yard with stabling facilities. There were three such yards in Kinlough - behind Gilmartin's pub, beside McGloin's pub and behind McGowan's shop. Here the horse was given some hay or oats and kept until needed for the journey home.

From the end of the nineteenth century to the mid part of the twentieth century the range of horse-drawn machinery steadily expanded and haymaking machines, including mowers, shakers, wheelrakes and floats were introduced. The horse continued to be the main beast of burden and transport until the 1950s. Traps as a means of transport finally disappeared in the 1960s, while the horse, which began to be supplanted by the new grey Ferguson tractors in the 1950s, finally disappeared as a beast of burden in the 1970s.

Crops

Vegetables such as cabbage, turnips and, later, onions and carrots were grown. The main vegetable, however, was the potato. Up to the famine the most common potato was "the lumper", a prolific cropper but with little resistance to blight. Following the famine new varieties were gradually introduced - including varieties such as Kerr's Pinks and Aran Banners which are still familiar today. Planting of potatoes was begun by "scoring" the ground with a spade or a loy. This involved turning up parallel rows of sods. The seed potatoes were stuck under the sods and the space between the sods was covered with farmyard manure and earth. The height of the "ridges" was increased with shovel and spade as the potato stalks grew.

When it was found that a mixture of bluestone and washing soda sprayed on the potatoes kept blight at bay, the spectre of crops rotting in the fields disappeared. Autumn was digging time for the potatoes. Women and children were enlisted in the harvesting. The potatoes were dug by the men and gathered by the women and children. They were stacked in a long heap in the potato field, thatched with rushes and covered with earth to keep the frost out. Small or damaged potatoes were set aside for the hens and pigs. Potatoes from the heap kept the family fed during the winter. Once spring arrived the potato heap was opened and seed potatoes removed. The remainder were regularly turned to knock off any buds that might appear. Farmers who had black (moss) soil often grew extra potatoes for sale as seed. These "moss" seed were highly prized, being better croppers than usual.

Haymaking

Haymaking was the major job of the summer months on the farms of Dartry. Meadows were "wasted" in spring when the cattle were removed and the grass allowed to grow. From June to September was the haymaking season. When the meadow was sufficiently grown the mowers moved in. Apart from those lucky enough to own a horse-drawn mowing machine, most of the mowing was done with the scythe. A good man with a scythe could mow an acre a day. The women and children followed the mower, shaking out the heavy swathes for drying. The mower cut every available blade of grass in the meadow, including grass under trees and on ditches.

On the following days the grass was repeatedly shaken and turned with pitchforks and rakes to assist drying. If the weather was poor small piles of hay with a hole through the middle, known as grasscocks, were made by hand. These prevented the hay from weathering and rotting and, when the drying improved, the grasscocks were shaken out and the hay again exposed to the sun. Once the hay was sufficiently dried the job of building cocks began. The women and children gathered the hay into piles, the older children shaped and tramped the hay pitched to them by the men. Each "ruck" was trimmed, raked and headed to throw off the rain. The field was carefully raked to gather every blade of hay. It was heavy work, especially on a hot summer day, and the arrival of the woman of the house with tea and buttered bread was a welcome respite.

Once the haycocks had matured for a few weeks the job of gathering them into large ricks in the farmyard began. It was usual for neighbours to come together and form a "meitheal" to help with the work. The cocks of hay were either winched onto large flat carts called "floats", built onto smaller carts by hand or towed ("traced") with ropes to the farmyard. Once in the farmyard the hay was built into "reeks" - large rectangular stacks measuring twenty feet by ten and up to twenty feet high, or large circular cocks. The ricks were meticulously shaped, raked and headed, for they had to preserve the hay in good condition throughout the winter. The ricks were finished with a thatch of rushes, bound by hay ropes. One of the great satisfactions of farming was a haggard filled with well-thatched ricks of hay.

The Army

The First World War of 1914 - 1918 presented two opportunities to young men in the parish: to make some money in the British Army and to join the fight "for the freedom of small nations". Scores of men went off to fight in the war in Europe in 1914, believing that they would be home again in a few months, with tales of adventure and pockets full of money. Instead of a grand adventure they found the mud and terror of trench warfare in France, and many from the parish who joined the British army found only a grave in war-torn Europe.

The following is a list of the Dartrymen who were killed in the Great War, with the name of their regiment and the date of death.:

Private James Clancy, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 7 June 1916.
Private Michael Clinton, Inniskillings, 15 May 1917.
Private William Connolly, Inniskillings, 16 August 1917.
Lance Corp. Richard Despard, Royal Irish Rifles, 7 June 1917.
Private Michael Feely, Inniskillings, 9 September 1916.
Lance Corp. Daniel Gallagher, Scots Guards, 25 January 1915.
Private Peter Kerrigan, Inniskillings, 13 September 1914.
Private Daniel McGowan, Royal Irish Fusiliers, 15 March 1916.
Lance Corp. Patrick McGowan, Inniskillings, 16 May 1915.
Private Peter McGowan, Connaught Rangers, 21 Aug. 1917.
Private Roger McSharry, Connaught Rangers, 21 Jan 1916.
Lance Corp. John Gallagher, Service Battalion, 25 March 1918.

Houses

In the eighteenth century houses tended to be scattered in the area, with farmers preferring to live close to their plots of land. The cottiers were often forced to live in huts little better than those of their ancestors two hundred years before. The better-off tenant farmers had houses of stone and mortar, with roofs of straw thatch laid on a bed of sods. The style of house which evolved would continue to be the prevalent house style until the advent of bungalows in the 1950s and 1960s. Initially these houses were of two or three rooms built in line, with one or two doors opening into a central kitchen. Because of the scarcity of glass and a tradition fostered by the Window Tax, windows were very small. One of the rooms often served as a byre, with the animals helping to heat the house in winter. Gradually the better-off farmers removed the animals to byres and barns constructed beside the house. Houses were often built on hills and other high points. The Night of the Big Wind, 6/7 January 1839, caused such destruction of thatched houses that, for many years afterwards, sheltered sites in valleys, hollows and holes were chosen. By the beginning of the twentieth century farmhouses were almost universally of three rooms, with a kitchen, an "upper" bedroom and a "lower" bedroom. Such houses often served to shelter fourteen or more inhabitants. Each room was heated by an open fire, though, in practice, only the kitchen hearth was kept alight. The fuel was almost universally turf, though the cottiers without turbary rights on the local bogs had to depend on any firewood they could gather.

The Protestant inhabitants of the parish usually had better houses than their Catholic neighbours. These tended to be two-storied and to be better planned, with a hallway, scullery, "best room" and three or four bedrooms. These houses were slated rather than thatched. Such a house was built by Richard Moore, a Protestant farmer, in Ballymore in 1869, and stands to this day. Clothing in this period consisted of a coat of frieze, a coarse woolen cloth, which was made up at a cost of around £1. Breeches of corduroy (coarse thick-ribbed cotton) were worn, as well as hats, linen shirts and leather boots. A complete outfit for a man in 1800 cost around £2.80. The general food was potatoes and oaten bread, supplemented with butter and eggs. Pork, mutton, and beef were also eaten, mostly at the feasts of Christmas and Easter.

Occupations

The following figures from the 1901 census for Kinlough Rural Division give a picture of employment in the area.
 

Shops and Trades

As can be seen from the small number of dealers, grocers and merchants in 1901, most Dartry families were almost completely self-sufficient. Purchases were mainly limited to salt, tobacco, alcohol, lamp oil and candles, farm implements and clothing. There were almost no shops. In 1857 Kinlough village had only one shop, operated by Patrick Connolly, while Tullaghan village had no shop at all. There were two forges in Kinlough - Pye's and McGloin's, and one in Tullaghan - O'Reilly's. The blacksmith made the farm gates, implements, crane crooks for the hearth, and other iron goods. It was to the forge that the horses and donkeys were taken to be shod. The forge was always busy, and provided a convenient meeting place for the men as they waited for their horses to be seen to. The tradition of the forge continued in Kinlough until the end of the 1980s. Barney Connolly was the last of the Kinlough blacksmiths and farriers, and demand for his services, which had declined with the demise of the horse as a work animal, grew again as riding became a popular pastime.

Dartry was well supplied with craftsmen. The McNulty family in Kinlough had a long tradition as wheelwrights, and they shod cart wheels and built spinning wheels for the locals. Bolts of cloth, bought in the drapery shops of Ballyshannon, were taken to the tailor to be made into suits. The shoemaker supplied workboots and "Mass" boots. Shoemakers in the area included the McGowans of Laughta and the McSharrys of Cloone. Some of the Warnock family were stonemasons and builders, though most of the building in the area was done by the people themselves.

As people became more affluent more shops were opened in Tullaghan and Kinlough. A number of small rural shops were opened in the first half of this century to serve the needs of the local farm families. These included McGloin's of Bunduff, Travers' of Askill, McCabe's and McGowan's of Dartry. The spread of motor transport and the decline in the rural population brought the demise of these rural shops in the 1960s.

Weddings, Funerals and Other Entertainments

For people with little or no money, entertainment was hard to come by. Both weddings and funerals were welcome releases from the drudgery of everyday life. Weddings were usually small affairs, being attended only by the immediate families of the bride and groom. The wedding itself was often the result of a "match" - an arranged wedding. The arrangements might be initiated by the two families or by an intermediary - the matchmaker. The relative prosperity and prospects of the couple, the quality of the land to be occupied by the newly-weds and the respectability of their ancestry were all taken into account in the arrangement of the wedding. Some young people did choose their partners themselves, though this was generally frowned upon. Following the wedding ceremony, the party returned to the bride's house for the wedding breakfast. In the evening the strawboys arrived. These were the local young men, dressed in straw with straw masks covering their faces. They sang and danced at the wedding party, and were rewarded with food and strong refreshments. Honeymoons did not take place. The day after the wedding the new bride and groom were back at their daily chores. By custom, the bride did not return to visit her parents for a month after the wedding.

Funerals too were popular with the young people. They were assured of plenty of drink and a generous supply of clay pipes filled with tobacco. Many a young man had his first drink and smoke at a wake. The wake house was open to all, and while the older men and women talked soberly, the young folk would often while away the long hours of the wake with tricks such as putting pipe tobacco in the teapots. Following two days of mourning in the wake house, the deceased was taken to the church for the funeral mass. At the end of the mass the neighbours filed up to the top of the church where a table waited, behind which stood a few of the deceased's male relations. The mourners laid their offering on the table and a member of the family called out their name and the amount of the offering. Mourners who could not attend sent their offerings and had their names called out at the end. The money was counted the amount called out and the offerings given to the officiating priest. The burial then took place. The stature of the deceased in the community was often judged by the amount of offerings paid at the funeral.

Drink was always popular in the area, but it was not until the middle of this century that the pub became a social centre. Before that the men would make a "join", pooling their limited money to buy a gallon of whiskey. They would then repair to somebody's house or barn to consume their purchase. When money was very tight, some men resorted to making poteen on the mountainside, keeping a good lookout for the police. Gambles were organised in houses, with the locals paying a few pence each and playing cards for prizes of turkeys and geese. Country-dances were held in houses and barns, music being supplied by local fiddlers and accordion players. Needless to say, the local clergy frowned upon all these activities. The parish priest was guaranteed to put a stop to such amusements if and when he discovered them. When nothing more interesting was happening, people gathered at crossroads to talk and while away the evening hours. Rambling (visiting) was also popular, and the parish had many rambling houses, where neighbours were welcome to call in the evenings to smoke, discuss local affairs and tell stories. Rambling houses where there were pretty unmarried daughters were especially popular.

Games and Pastimes

Drink was not the main interest for most of the people in the area. The younger people enjoyed many outdoor games. Skittles, played with foot-long pieces of wood, were popular. Fishing was popular, though the landlords controlled most of the fishing on the rivers and the lake. Men enjoyed poaching - fishing illegally for salmon and trout. They lifted the fish from the rivers with gaffs, and set nightlines - long lines with many baited hooks - in the lake for trout. They trapped rabbits with snares and set birdcage traps for small birds. The few legal (and some illegal) firearms were used to shoot duck, pheasants and hares. The booty of the poachers and hunters provided a welcome addition to the family diet. The passing of the landlords saw the opening up of angling to the local people. The building of a boathouse and pier on Lough Melvin by Bundoran Anglers, and the formation of Kinlough and District Anglers Association led to the popularisation of the sport in the parish. Prominent anglers in the area have included Robert Moore (Ballymore), Michael Warnock (Kinlough), Jimmy and Paddy McNulty (Kinlough), Cormac McGowan (Ballymore), Phil Rooney (Ballymore), Paddy Clancy (Edenville), Bernard and Jimmy Connolly (Gannavagh), Tom McGowan (Dartry), Fr. Gus Leaden (Kinlough), Canon Thomas Curran (Kinlough), Denis McSharry (Kinlough). Bernard Connolly (Gannavagh) built boats for Lough Melvin until the mid-1990s. Today's anglers include Thomas Kelly (Edenville), Joe Gallagher (Knockenroe), and Pauric Murphy (Kinlough). Thomas Gallagher has carried out major development on the Drowes for angling. Local anglers on the Drowes and Duff include John Fahey (Edenville), Peter McSharry (Lareen), and Hugh Cawley (Tullaghan).

Music too was popular in the area. Good musicians were guaranteed a string of engagements at weddings and dances. In return for their services they were plied with food and drink and sometimes got a few shillings as well. The first half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of many fine musicians in the area - the Rooneys of Glack, with Phil on the flute and sons Jimmy (flute), Paddy (fiddle), Michael and Phil Jnr. (accordions) and Pat Hernon from Aghavoghil who played accordion. The accordion became a very prominent instrument in the area, supplanting the hitherto popular fiddle. Accordionists included Paddy McGowan (Monien), Dan Gallagher (Laughta), Jim Feely (Laughta), Bartley Clancy (Agharrow), Jim Connolly (Agharrow), Paddy "Terry Andy" McGowan (Laughta), and Dominic Feeley (Ballymore). Fiddlers included Eddie John Gallagher and his son Charlie (Park) and Packie Tivnan (Monien). Frank Curneen (fiddle), Peter McGloin (accordion) and Patrick McGoey (bones), all from Glenade, were frequent visitors to the area. In more recent years traditional music is being continued by Deirdre, Grainne and Joanne Doherty (Kinlough), Aidan McGowan (Glenade), Michael and Seamus McGowan (Kinlough), John McGowan (Glenade), Claire Ferguson (Kinlough), Declan Curneen (Glenade).

Popular music took a firm hold in the area in the 1950s. John Foley Snr., Kinlough, formed "MacNamara's Band" at that time. The band played in local halls for a number of years. Peggy Kelly (Edenville) was a member of the Gilligan family's "Emerald Valley Ceili Band" which was popular at the time. Peggy still performs popular music. Others in the popular music field in more recent years have included Paudge Jones (Tullaghan), Austin McGurran (Gubacreeny), Gerry McGurran (Agharrow). John Nelson (Tullaghan) is a well-known artist, with a number of recordings to his credit.

Classical music has never featured much in the locality, though, in the 1990s, a number of local girls, including Marcella Ferguson (Edenville), Ann Feeley (Ballymore), Grainne Doherty (Kinlough) and Deirdre Travers (Glenade) have played with Donegal Youth Orchestra. Jimmy Murphy (Kinlough) was a well-known pianist. Church organists have included Mrs. O'Malley, Angela Scanlan and Maire White (Kinlough) and Brian Maguire (Tullaghan). Currently Mary Gallagher (Askill) is organist in St. Aidan's, Kinlough while Muriel Kerr (Kinlough) has been organist in Rossinver Parish Church for half a century.

The Melvin Gaels

By the early part of this century the countrywide Gaelic revival brought hurling and football to the parish. Hurling was the first game to become popular, with Kinlough fielding a hurling team, complete with homemade hurleys, in 1914. Members of the team included Alec Warnock, W. Connolly, J. Gallagher, J. Connolly, J. Gilvarry, Jack Devaney, Terence Connolly, Michael Dowdican, M. Clinton, J. Rynn, Jimmy Sadlier, Pat Warnock, Pat Gilvarry, J. Gallagher. Football soon took over as the local game. By the 1920s Kinlough were fielding a team in the North Leitrim competitions. Players during this time included John Foley Snr., Garda John O'Connor, Paddy Clancy, Paddy McGowan and Dominic Feeley. The team won the Lundon Cup in 1936. Local games were held in "The Acre" - the piece of land that now holds Kinlough Dispensary and the adjoining housing estate.

The most important event in local football was the founding of Melvin Gaels in 1953. The President of the new club was Canon Dolan, secretary was Batt White, treasurer was Garda Owen Greene and the committee were: Pat McGowan, Paddy "In Edwards" McGowan, Paddy Dominic McGowan, Gerry McGloin, Frank McGloin, Joe Keon, John Foley, Michael T. McGowan, Dominic Feeley, Paddy N. McGowan, John McGowan, Denis McMahon, James Feely, and Frank Curneen. Within a few years the club was to enjoy an unprecedented run of success. The Gaels reached the final of the Leitrim County Championship in 1956 and 1957, and won the championship for three years in succession - 1959, 1960, 1961 - becoming one of the premier clubs in Connaught. They were defeated in the Connaught club championship of 1961 by Dunmore McHales. They played in the 1964 final, and won in 1965. They also reached the finals in 1967 and 1968. Though the team continues strongly to the present day, the men in the blue and white have never again reached the heights of success of those magical early years. Emigration to England and migration to the cities of Ireland tore the heart out of the team in the 1960s. Many of the remaining players had to (and still have to) travel long distances from Dublin and Galway to matches. The names of the members of that first Melvin Gaels team which dominated Leitrim football in the 1950s and 1960s are enshrined in local football lore. Paudge McGowan played in goals. Other team members during these years included Jimmy Kelly, Jackie Gallagher, Petey Foley, Padraig McGloin, Gabriel O'Malley, Kevin O'Malley, Michael McGowan, Sean Gallagher, Aidan Gallagher, Eamonn Gallagher, Brendan McGowan, Kevin McGowan, Máirtín McGowan, Robby Kelly, Martin Collins, Fr. Barney Doyle, Paschal McGowan, Jimmy Foley, Colm McGowan, Frank Coll, Denis Feeley, Joe McGowan, Joe Gallagher, Alec Connolly, Aidan McGowan, Seamus McGowan, Willie Gilmartin, Micksey Rooney, Sonny Scallon, Sean Forde, Pauric White, Micheál White, Brendan Kelly. These were the young men who set a proud footballing tradition for Dartry and provided a headline for their successors to follow. 1998 was a remarkable year for the Gaels. The under 12s became county champions, and the senior team won the county final, beating Sean O'Heslin's (Ballinamore) to bring the senior cup to the village for the first time in 33 years.

Shane McCarron, past-pupil and current member of the team has launched a  Melvin Gaels  website.  You can find it by clicking on the link.

The Fair

Kinlough fair, on the sixth of every month, was one of the premier fairs of the north-west. It was thronged with people of all sorts - farmers, cattle-dealers, traders and the curious. The cattle began arriving early in the morning. Each farmer herded his animals in a favourite spot on the streets of the village. The more fastidious inhabitants of the village erected barriers to keep the cattle away from their houses, but the condition of the streets after each fair leaves little to the imagination. The buyers, in long coats and brown boots, toured the village and inspected the animals. Bargains were made and deals closed with much hand-slapping. Once sold, the cattle were removed to one of the town yards and payment was made in one of the pubs. Farmers distrusted everything except cash, and cheques were rushed to the bank, which opened in the village each fair day, to be converted into "real" money. Pubs and shops did a roaring trade. Disagreements often arose, and fights were not uncommon. Even when they had nothing to sell, many farmers went to the fair to catch up on prices and the local gossip. Pigs, sheep and donkeys were also for sale. The fair continued until the 1960s. Efforts to replace the fair with a mart in the village came to naught and the opening of cattle marts in Manorhamilton and Ballyshannon quickly led to the demise of the fair.