Browne — Ethnography of Carna and Miceenish, Connemara. 523 



3. Food. — The dietary consists mainly of fish "(fresh or dried), 

 potatoes, Indian meal, soda bread and tea. Plesh meat is very rarely 

 used. The potatoes being grown in such wet ground, seldom last 

 beyond December, and then recoiu"se must be had to Indian meal and 

 flour. Tea is taken at every meal, and is drunk very strong ; as it is 

 usually " stewed " or overdrawn it is not by any means wholesome. 



4. Clothing. — The clothing of the men is of the usual Connemara 

 type, and is almost entirely of homespun. That worn on working 

 days is usually made of whitish flannel, without dye, and is often very 

 ragged and much patched. A better style of attire is worn on Sundays 

 and holidays, and the favourite material is a natural grey tweed undyed, 

 made of black and white wool, the warp being white and the woof 

 black. This material wears well and does not fade. Soft felt hats and 

 cloth or tweed caps (both imported) are much worn, but many of the 

 men and boys still wear the flat home knitted cap of " Tarn O'Shanter" 

 pattern. Pew dyes are used except sera clogh made from a lichen 

 {Ramalina scopuloruni), with which stockings are dyed a brownish 

 yellow; it is believed that stockings dyed with this material, prevent 

 the feet from sweating or chafing. Heavy boots are worn at all times 

 by the men and by the women on Sundays and holidays. The people 

 as a rule are very heavily clothed, though the garments are often very 

 old and ragged. Skirts and underclothing are of flannel, home or factory 

 made. 



Young boys wear the long frock or kilt, as described in the report 

 on Gorumna, until the age of thirteen or fourteen years, and as a rule 

 go barefooted and often bareheaded as well (see Plate xxn., fig. 2). 

 In cold weather the children are decidedly underclothed ; hence, as 

 the Piev. T. A. Pinlay describes, they are usually to be seen on a cold 

 day sitting " in the ashes with their bare legs within a few inches of 

 the glowing coals." 



The dress of the women is mainly composed of homespun materials 

 and consists of a bodice and skirt of red (dyed as a rule with imported 

 madder), a little red tartan shawl over the shoulders, or sometimes a 

 bawneen or white flannel jacket thrown over the shoulders and fastened 

 in front by the arms. In showery weather a white or red flannel 

 petticoat is worn as a cape (Plate xxv., fig. 2). As before stated, the 

 women usually go barefoot on week-days, but many wear mittauns, or 

 footless stockings. 



5. I)v:ellings. — The houses vaiy much in type; in the villages and 

 along the main roads there are some comparatively comfortable cottages 

 and houses built with mortar and whitewashed or plastered, but these are 



