I lived outside in the barn in the first house I was hired to, said Kevin McAllister. If you didn’t finish your six months you could be done out of your money. There was no law to back you up. It was rough enough. They took three 2.5d stamps off me, for the letters I wrote home in that time. And 7d for plasters for the boil on the back of my neck.
Was there any difference working for Protestant compared to Catholic employers?
You were treated as well, if not better, by the Protestants. With them there was no work on a Sunday. With your own the real work only started on a Sunday! ‘Seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, and the rest of the time’s your own!’ What kind of work?
Cleaning drains, carting out muck, harrowing (2-3 horses), you were often in sheughs to the eyebrows [I think that’s what he said!]
My next job I was paid