Norman Towns

The Normans built towns on the coast (Drogheda, Tralee and Galway). They built towns on the banks of rivers (Athlone, Trim and Carlow). They built towns at crossroads or near old monasteries (Kells, Kildare and Kilkenny). These towns were near the Lord’s castle and goods from the farm were sold in the towns.

Shops

All the shops of one kind were on the same street. There was a Cook Street and Bakers’ Street. The shops were small and there were signs above the doors because many people could not read. The sign for a barber’s shop was a pole. Every town had a market square. The towns were busy in the day, but nobody went out at night because there were no street lights. People had to pay toll to get into a town.

Streets and Houses

There were big walls around the towns and the streets were very narrow. The houses were made of timber. The towns were very crowded and very unhealthy. There were no sewers. Most of the streets were not paved. Rubbish was thrown on the streets and there was always a danger of disease and plague.

Disease

The worst plague was the Black Death. This was passed on by fleas that lived on rats. People were afraid to bury their dead in case they caught the disease. At night, priests put the dead on carts and buried them in huge pits outside the town. In one year, nearly half of the people in Dublin died from the Black Death.

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