25/10/2026
For a lot of Irish families, an evening's light cost almost nothing, because it was made from a plant growing in the bog and the grease left over from supper.
Rushlights were made from soft green rushes gathered from bogs and wet ground in autumn, then hung in the chimney corner to season. The rush was peeled, but a narrow strip of the green skin was left running down one side so the soft pith inside would not break apart. It was then drawn through melted fat held in a small boat-shaped iron dish called a grisset, usually set near the hearth, and left to dry and harden.
The fat could be almost anything a household had to spare, bacon skimmings, lard from the pig killed for the year, or a store-bought tallow candle melted down, and a single candle could supply enough grease for as many as thirty rushlights. Once dry, the rush was clamped in an iron holder, often made by the local blacksmith, and lit at the top.
The light was poor. A schoolchild collecting local customs for the Schools' Folklore Collection recorded that it took about three rushes to last a single night, and accounts from many districts describe rushlights as the light of an earlier generation, used until candles and lamps became affordable.
A whole evening of light for the price of a handful of rushes and the grease left in the pan.
Did anyone in your family ever talk about the light before electricity came to the house, a lamp, a candle, or something even simpler? 👇
