Interview with Mr Brendan Blaney

Q. Can you remember the names of anybody who used to live there and if possible when?
A. ‘I remember hearing the story of a man called McLaughlin although I don’t know his first name. I remember being told that he lived in Knockban around 1879’.

Q. What would have been the main type of farming in the area
A. ‘Knockban was a mixture of growing potatoes in ridges and oats which would have been threshed by flail. Each household would probably have owned one cow to produce the milk for the family’.

Q. What types of children’s games were played in the area at that time?
A. ‘The games which were played were Tig, Blind Man’s Bluff and a variety of story telling. Usually they would have gathered fire wood, sticks and turf. Children in those days were brought up to do work’

Q. How important was education for people at this time?
A. ‘Education was not that important in the 1880s as parents during this era did not believe that education was important. People were terribly poor and they believed that it was important for children at an early age to work on the farm.

Q. What are your own personal feelings on what Knockban looks like today
A. ‘When I walk out my back door I look straight across to Knockban Clachan. The buildings today are completely derelict. I do not know what year Knockban became uninhabited but my father who was born in 1898 did not remember anyone living in Knockbane nor did he remember children going to Knockbane School’

Q. There is a story that Knockbane suddenly became deserted almost overnight. Is there any truth in this story?
A. I know for certain, owing to newspaper accounts that Knockbane was inhabited in 1879. However my father, from his early days could never remember anone living in Knockbane’.

Q. Why do you think the clachan became deserted?
A. ‘I know from the Glynns Historical annual books that 1879 was a very very wet year and no one had any dry turf to burn. Perhaps this could be why Knockban may have become deserted (they possibly could have emigrated to America). At the time thatched roofs didn’t help because of the rain but there was also crop failure’

Q. What do you see happeing in the area in the future?
A. ‘I cannot see much happeing to Knockban, certainly not in the near future nor perhaps in the long term owing to its location. Furthermore the E.E.C. (European Economic Community) has restricted agriculture as to what farmers can and cannot do. Perhaps it would be best if the E.H.S. (Environmental Heritage Service) would designate Knockban as a place of historical interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed this interview with Mr Brendan Blaney which took place on Thursday 1st June 2006. All of the questions were answered with complete care and consideration. Out of all the possible people who I could have gone to, choosing Mr Blaney was without the best choice.

by Aine

Drawing of Knockban by Aine

Q. Can you remember the names of anybody who used to live there and if possible when?
A. In Knockbane there were the families of McLaughlin’s who lived there around the year 1901. Around that year there were 16 McLaughlin families who had members of their families supposedly taller than six feet.

Q. What would have been the main type of farming in the area?
A. The main type of farming in the area at that time would be called ‘mixed’. Mixed is the collective word for the farmers who reared pigs, cattle, sheep, hens and ducks. The farmers also grew potatoes, corn (oats), cabbages and turnips.

Q. Can you remember any childhood stories you were told about Knockbane?
A. No, but I remember being told the people were very self sufficient, they were tailors and shoemakers and weavers. We were also told that by the time you got to the bottom of Glenann road you would be dressed in a new suit and matching shoes.

Q. What type of children’s games were played in the area at the time?
A. The games that were popular in those days were shinty, marbles, rounders and duck at the table. Duck at the table was played with a large stone placed on a table with a smaller sone placed on the larger stone. The aim of the game was to knock the small stone off the larger stone, and the winner is the person who gets the closest.

Q. How important was education for people at this time?
A. Education was very important at that time, but previous to the mid 1800s when there were no buildings, they had hedge schools. In hedge schools the pupils assembled among the hedge and that’s where they were taught their compulsory studies by travelling teachers.

Q. What are your own personal feelings on what Knockbane looks like today? What are your own personal feelings of it?
A. I have different feelings on what Knockbane looks like today but mostly disappointed because Knockbane used to be a thriving village but but over the years has turned into wallsteads. My own personal memory of Knockbane is when people lived and populated the area and also keeping it lively and popular the way it should be today.

Q. There is a story that Knockbane suddenly became deserted almost over night. Is there any truth in this story?
A. Knockbane did become deserted though it took a period of time, but the reason it became deserted was because there was such a shortage of work in the area so families emigrated to places such as America to earn more money.

Q. Why do you think the clachan became deserted?
A. My opinion on why the clachan became deserted was after the famine of 1845 the people were not able to provide food for their families which meant large families had to emigrate or starve.

Q. What do you see happening in the area in the future?
A. In the future because of a smaller population in the area farmers will be able to provide for their families. I can never see people populating the clachans again because to everyone they are historical sites and that’s the way it will probably stay for many years to come.

Other information I was given by Mr Sharpe was that the word ‘clachan’ is used by Irish historians and is similar to the Irish word Both which is also a collection of small houses.

I interviewed Mister Phil Sharpe on Friday 2nd June 2006. It was a very interesting and enjoyable interview.

by Haileigh

Painting of Glenann by Haileigh