Questions about Moving about the Country

Reference code: FOL.QUES/29
Level of description: Series
Title: Questions about Moving about the Country
Scope and content: "Within the lifetime of many people now living, great changes have come about with regard to the means of local transport, the ease and frequency with which people travel, and the purposes for which they made short or long journeys."
1. To what period does your information refer?
2. (a) How far did children have to travel to reach school?
(b) How did they get there? How did they get home?
3. Was there any prejudice against riding or driving to church, even if one had to go a long way?
4. How did clergy travel to visit parishioners?
5. How did doctors travel to visit patients?
6. On average, over what distance did young people seek marriage partners?
7. By what means did young men travel when courting?
8. How far was it customary for married or older single people to travel in order
(a) to visit relatives?
(b) to visit friends?
(c) for conviviality or ceilidhing?
(d) to L.O.L., A.O.H., Masonic or other lodges?
(e) to open-air sports & recreations?
9. How often were visits paid to relatives? (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, older brothers & sisters living elsewhere)
10. How far was your household from the following types of shops, and how often were they visited?
(a) food shops
(b) clothing shops
(c) hardware and furnishing shops
11. What means of transport was used for visiting shops, markets and fairs?
12. Did suppliers of any goods deliver them or provide mobile service? If so, state what kind of goods were involved.
13. If people travelled to work, give information on the distances covered and the nature of work involved.
14. (a) When did the push-bicycle come into use in your area?
(b) Was it customary for more than one member of a family to have a bicycle?
15. (a) When did the first private cars come into use in your district?
(b) Who owned it? (state occupation only)
16. When was the pony and trap replaced by the private car in your area?
17. (a) How far are you from a bus route?
(b) When did bus services begin in your area?
(c) Who began them? (give name of proprietor)
18. When and for what purpose did motor vans and lorries first come into use in your area?
19. Does horse-drawn transport survive alongside motor transport for any purpose?
Is donkey-drawn transport used at all?
20. Were there any set times, special occasions or reasons for travelling greater distances than usual?
And how far away might one then go?
21. How far from home had you travelled at the following ages for everyday purposes and on special occasions? (approximately, in miles)
Before you were 10
Between 10 and 15
Between 16 and 20
22. (a) Did people reckon distances in Irish miles when you were young?
(b) When did this practice cease?
(c) Were distances given thus on milestones? (state examples)
(d) How long was the Irish mile?
(e) Was it, or is it still, customary to use other terms (e.g. furlong) for shorter distances?
23. If you know of any stories, folktales, anecdotes or interesting actual instances detailing with travel and communication in the country, please write them down (continue overleaf if necessary).