DOI Artikel:
Watson, Mervyn: Common Irish plough types and tillage techniques
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49002#0092
86
MERVYN WATSON
Fig. 1. Kilkenny plough, elevation showing land side (Tighe 1802).
Pflug von Kilkenny, Aufrifi, der die Landseite zeigt.
employed, dictates that the main working
parts share similar characteristics, and there-
by loosely classify it as a type. One such
type is that referred to by contemporaries as
the Old Irish long beamed plough. This
plough was a swing plough, and the main
features given in the description examined
are a long beam, flat wooden mouldboard, a
long sole, the lack of a side plate, and its
heavy weight.
The ‘common’ plough of Co. Kildare was
said to be ‘the old Irish longbeamed unwieldy
plough ... the weight sufficient to load two
of the four animals, who are obliged to lug
it’ (Rawson 7). The ‘common’ plough of
Co. Kilkenny (Fig. 1) was described as ‘a
clumsy plough ... of from seven to nine feet
beam’, with the ‘chip or sole’ as having too
long a ‘heel’. The body had then no side
plate, and the mouldboard was straight
(Tighe 293). It was noted that the ‘common
ill-constructed’ plough of Co. Armagh also
had no side plate and the mouldboard was
not ‘curved’. The sole was ‘not straight and
the projection had a very mischievous ten-
dency’ (Coote C., 168, 177-179). At a
ploughing match, at Castleknock Co. Dub-
lin in 1802 a ‘common’ plough used had a
beam of ‘very great length’ and the mould-
board was ‘very long and very high’ (Dutton
33). In King’s County, the length of the
plough beam was such that the writer Coote
claimed, ‘the plough is very distressing to the
cattle ... and unwieldy to the holder’ (Coote
35). The Rev. Ledwich from the parish of
Aghaboe in Queen’s County noted, ‘our
ploughs are heavy and unmanageable’, (Ma-
son 67) and Coote thought the beam of the
Queen’s County plough to be ‘quite too long
and the draught consequently heavy’ (Coote
39).
One of the more detailed descriptions of a
heavy, long beamed, Irish plough is that gi-
ven by Thompson of the Co. Meath plough
(Fig. 2). He noted that ‘the plough used
heretofore throughout this county appears
to a stranger a most unwieldy and heavy im-
plement’, and gave the measurements of the
plough as follows:
(Fig. 2 No. 1)
From the point A to
the beam end A is
From the point do. to
the coulter B is
Ditto the point do. to the
cross (breast) C is
Ditto the point do. to the
handle point D is
9 ft 0 ins (270 cms)
6 ft 0 ins (180 cms)
7 ft 6 ins (225 cms)
13 ft 0 ins
MERVYN WATSON
Fig. 1. Kilkenny plough, elevation showing land side (Tighe 1802).
Pflug von Kilkenny, Aufrifi, der die Landseite zeigt.
employed, dictates that the main working
parts share similar characteristics, and there-
by loosely classify it as a type. One such
type is that referred to by contemporaries as
the Old Irish long beamed plough. This
plough was a swing plough, and the main
features given in the description examined
are a long beam, flat wooden mouldboard, a
long sole, the lack of a side plate, and its
heavy weight.
The ‘common’ plough of Co. Kildare was
said to be ‘the old Irish longbeamed unwieldy
plough ... the weight sufficient to load two
of the four animals, who are obliged to lug
it’ (Rawson 7). The ‘common’ plough of
Co. Kilkenny (Fig. 1) was described as ‘a
clumsy plough ... of from seven to nine feet
beam’, with the ‘chip or sole’ as having too
long a ‘heel’. The body had then no side
plate, and the mouldboard was straight
(Tighe 293). It was noted that the ‘common
ill-constructed’ plough of Co. Armagh also
had no side plate and the mouldboard was
not ‘curved’. The sole was ‘not straight and
the projection had a very mischievous ten-
dency’ (Coote C., 168, 177-179). At a
ploughing match, at Castleknock Co. Dub-
lin in 1802 a ‘common’ plough used had a
beam of ‘very great length’ and the mould-
board was ‘very long and very high’ (Dutton
33). In King’s County, the length of the
plough beam was such that the writer Coote
claimed, ‘the plough is very distressing to the
cattle ... and unwieldy to the holder’ (Coote
35). The Rev. Ledwich from the parish of
Aghaboe in Queen’s County noted, ‘our
ploughs are heavy and unmanageable’, (Ma-
son 67) and Coote thought the beam of the
Queen’s County plough to be ‘quite too long
and the draught consequently heavy’ (Coote
39).
One of the more detailed descriptions of a
heavy, long beamed, Irish plough is that gi-
ven by Thompson of the Co. Meath plough
(Fig. 2). He noted that ‘the plough used
heretofore throughout this county appears
to a stranger a most unwieldy and heavy im-
plement’, and gave the measurements of the
plough as follows:
(Fig. 2 No. 1)
From the point A to
the beam end A is
From the point do. to
the coulter B is
Ditto the point do. to the
cross (breast) C is
Ditto the point do. to the
handle point D is
9 ft 0 ins (270 cms)
6 ft 0 ins (180 cms)
7 ft 6 ins (225 cms)
13 ft 0 ins