60% of population lived in rural areas Houses – thatched cottages – 2-4 rooms Stone and clay – half doors – top half open Small windows Outside toilets because no running water in house

Kitchen most important room Dark – candles and open fire Only heated room in the house Meals prepared by the woman and eaten there Open fire – used for cooking Food was simple – produced by themselves Simple diet of Potatoes, veg, eggs Went to market for other food – eg tea and sugar

Low prices for farm products – farmers v poor Work done by hand – manual labour Milking, feeding animals Horse drawn machines to plough, sow and harvest Neighbours helped each other at harvest – meitheal Cattle were bought and sold

Traditional role of housewife Worked v hard Spent day in kitchen Baked bread and cooked meals and churned butter No electricity, so had to wash and iron by hand No running water – had to go to well Then had to help on farm –milking cows and raising chickens Sold eggs

No radio, no tv Make their own entertainment Neighbor visits – tell stories, cards, played music Dances at crossroads was a tradition Played GAA in community – v popular Wakes and weddings – huge occasions

Rural depopulation A lot of people moved from rural areas to towns seeking work 30% now live in rural areas

Great improvements Modern 3-4 bedroom bungalows common Also large, 2-storey houses during Celtic Tiger Since the 60s the motor car has given greater mobility

Rural electrification – 1940s-50s Made women’s lives a lot easier Electrical good did much of her work Eg washing machines, kettles, cookers Electric pumps enabled running water to be pumped No more trips to wells Installed bathrooms in house Milking machines milked cattle

Electrification changed lives Electric light made work in barns safer Tractors and other machines became common Combine harvesters to cut the harvest Less need of farm labourer and neighbour help Good or bad thing? Joining the EEc in 1973 was good for farmers Under the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) they got good prices for products The EEc also gave grants to farmers

Old traditions died Weekly trip to local shop for chat… …replaced by supermarkets - cheaper and more variety Radios and TV – common since 1960s Computers and internet mean that nowhere is isolated or out of touch anymore