102 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



The men wear boots as part of their everyday attire, but the 

 women and children usually go barefooted, wearing boots only on 

 Sundays and other public occasions. 



5. Dwellings. — The houses in this district are, as a rule, of a 

 superior class to those to be seen in the northern portion of Erris, 

 They are usually solidly built of stone and mortar, and whitewashed 

 outside ; but few either of the dry-stone or of the " sod houses " now 

 exist, though a few, some of which were evidently not long built, 

 were seen. A typical Ballycroy house is built of stone and mortar, 

 and thatched with straw or bent, laid on over " scraws " of grass turf, 

 and held in place by sougans (straw ropes), which are attached to 

 stout pegs driven into the walls, instead of stones or beams as seen 

 in the Mullet. The house consists of a room and a kitchen. The 

 kitchen is a large apartment, entered by two doors, one in front, the 

 other in the rear, opposite to one another ; the floor is flagged, or of 

 beaten clay. At one end of this room is the fireplace, a large open 

 hearth, with a wide chimney. Beside the fire, at one side, is a bed 

 of the usual Erris type. At the other end of the kitchen is a place 

 for the cattle, usually paved, and provided with a small channel in 

 the floor, which runs out under the gable. Over this part of the 

 kitchen is a half loft, in which are kept agricultural implements, &c., 

 and there is usually a small square hole or window in the gable of 

 this end, which affords ventilation and some light. Across the 

 apartment stretches a straw rope, on which articles of clothing are 

 hung to dry. The walls are whitewashed inside, and are often 

 decorated with cheap pictures, usually religious in character. The 

 furnitui'e of the kitchen consists of the bed before mentioned, a table, 

 a dresser, with some cheap crockery ware, a large chest, a settle or 

 form, and two or three chairs or stools. The kitchen utensils are the 

 usual three-legged pot, a skillet, a griddle, a few wooden piggins, a 

 bucket, a boran or sheepskin sieve, a wool-wheel, and some cards. 



Cheap lamps of modern form are in most houses, but in some the 

 rude " flare," described in the report on the Mullet, is still in use. 



The "room" is a smaller apartment, and usually contains two or 

 more beds, of the usual Erris pattern, and with feather ticks ; it con- 

 tains a table and a couple of chairs. The floor is often boarded. 



6. Transport. — The means of transport are, with the exception of 

 the method of conveying seaweed mentioned in another section, the 

 same as those prevailing in the Mullet district. There are compara- 

 tively few carts in use, and turf, manure, and articles for market are 

 usually carried in the pardoges or panniers on the backs of donkeys 



