'During the war things were very tight. The tea was very scarce so my mother used to buy it blackmarket from someone she knew'

'During the war things were very tight. The tea was very scarce so my mother used to buy it blackmarket from someone she knew'

Margaret describes how her mother utilized the food that was available during the war and managed to find alternatives for what was not readily obtainable.

Margaret McLoughlin

Trinity College Dublin

1940

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Margaret McLoughlin

Childhood and Early Life

Life Story

Dublin

2000s

In those days there was no such word as diet as I think we never suffered from too much food. We got good wholesome food. Bread was baked every day and that is why flour was bought by the big bags which were utilised for sheets. On special occasions when we got sweet cakes they would be ginger, caraway seed or apple cake or rhubarb cake. We had no garden for vegetables but neighbours would always give us rhubarb or somebody would bring us in a bag of apples. My mother used to make what she called a turn cake which was cooked on the pan. I never liked it hot but if it survived it was lovely cold the following day. She always made boxty (made from raw potatoes and cooked potatoes) and potato cakes together and we would have it hot swimming in butter, for our tea. During the war things were very tight. The tea was very scarce so my mother used to buy it black-market from someone she knew. It cost ﾌﾣ1 a pound which was pretty stiff but she had to have it for the fair days. Flour was very hard to get. For the bread making they would substitute flake meal or Indian meal. The Indian meal was lovely in the bread. We got very little fries. Sunday morning was a treat. It was wonderful to walk up from Mass and get the smell of the fry as we got to the gate. I think it must have been the iron pan because rashers fried on it had the most wonderful aroma. If times were good we got a sausage to ourselves but if not we got a half which was rolled in flour, I suppose to bind it together.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)