JOHN CORBETT presents a selection of events associated with October in the countryside

 

October was one of our favourite months. We were fully resigned to school life by the time it came round. Harvesting grain crops would be over by then and of course bringing home turf and hay were also at an end. Most of the Octobers that I remember were warm and sunny.

‘A lazy veil of woven sun’ is a line by Patrick Kavanagh comes to mind when I think of October. But it wasn’t always like that. It could be wet, windy and quite cold at times.
Potatoes were the main crop that had to be dealt with in our schooldays. As with all farming chores back then, the work was done manually. Those that had large crops would have to spend several weeks harvesting them.

We were fortunate in that regard because we just had enough to feed ourselves and our stock, but the story was different in neighbouring parishes. Once we had dug and pitted them that was the end of the process for us.

Dad dug the potatoes with a spade. Marie and I would pick them with our buckets when we came from school. People with large crops split the drills with a horse drawn plough and then gathered the tubers.
Those that grew them for export had much more to do. One of the most time-consuming tasks that they faced was grading them. Tubers had to be a certain size. Potatoes that were too big or too small or damaged, couldn’t be exported. They were classed as ‘Tare’ as it was up to the growers to dispose of them as they wished. Farmers often did this work by night in sheds with the aid of storm lanterns.

Beet growing was common in the area. Special forks were used for loading it and it was normally piled on the roadside before being collected and brought to the factories. Pulp was one of the by-products and this was given to the growers and was used to feed livestock.

Beet factories were located at Carlow, Mallow, Thurles and Tuam. Large numbers were employed in them, and it was quite a shock to the public when it was decided to close them down.
The Tuam branch engaged in a variety of operations in addition to processing beet, such as potato growing and turf cutting. In fact, the first turf-cutting machines in our area came from Comhluct Siúcra Éireann in Tuam. In the early 60’s machines rapidly replaced sleaners and barrow men and the task that had taken several days up to then was now completed in a matter of hours.

When the crops had been harvested it was common enough for growers to host parties in celebration of the event. Musicians gave their services free, and singers, dancers and entertainers were to be found throughout the area. Many of the celebrations took place in October.
There were no time constraints because most rural dwellers were not employed in businesses so they could enjoy their free time as they wished. Paraffin lamps were the main source of illumination until electricity became available.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Electric power came to our area in the mid-fifties but didn’t come to other parts of rural Ireland until much later. There were mixed reactions to the advent of electricity. Some refused to take it. They worried about the cost and the danger. In one of RTE’s programmes. a contributor, (I think it was David Rowell), quotes an opponent as saying, “If someone planted a bomb in Shannon, we’d all be blown up in our beds.”
Incomes were low so the prospect of regular bills wasn’t enticing. However, most residents welcomed its arrival. At the beginning it was used sparingly, but after a few years country folk, in common with their urban cousins, began to use a wide range of electrical equipment. These included: cookers, washing machines and other kitchen appliances.