Meet the family
Paul McGrath
“I quite fancy taking this back with me to
2004,” he quips. “I could make a real fashion
statement with this suit!”
However, Paul admits: “I found leaving 2004
very difficult because I had a comfortable life, a
job, a car, a social life and friends and we were
just getting settled in to a new house.”
He adds: “It was good fun coming here with
my family, which probably made it a bit easier
for us.We didn’t know the location and we did
a bit of research but probably not enough. I
suppose not knowing what we were going to
was all part of the fun of it – the surprise, the
expectations, what you hoped for.”
Paul points out:“It’s harder living it. It’s hard on
a Friday and Saturday night and you are thinking
there’s another world out there and what they
are doing and how to relate to 1904.”
In a bid to help counter this, the teenager has
thrown himself into work.
Age: 18
Studying for his A Levels and would like to act
“Someone my age in 1904 would have been
working day in, day out in the forge and then
at the weekends helping out at the farm,
maybe in the evenings helping to feed the
animals.
Hobbies: Cars, acting, socialising and music
What you miss most from 2004: Car,
mobile and fizzy drinks
Paul simply loves his tweed three-piece suit,
one of only two outfits given to each of the
family for the duration of the project.
With the collar turned up, he struts around
outside the farmhouse with his brothers
and sister.
Century Farm
“I’ve found the forge very interesting as I’m
interested in technology and manufacturing. I
have been straightening iron bars and hope to
move on to making pot stands to use in the
house, something achievable, interesting and
useful,” he says.
A real downside to the experience for Paul
has been restricted space in the farmhouse.
“Sharing a room with my brothers and sister
is tough. In 1904 people bathed in front of the
8
Meet the family
fire as it was the only means of heating the
tub, but you do need your privacy and so far
none of us has used the bath, we have all been
part washing ourselves. Baking soda is the only
means to brush your teeth,” he says.
The extreme change of diet took a bit of
getting used to, as Paul explains: “Obviously
you are taking a lot of carbohydrates, you
don’t really have a sweet tooth, not like a
sweet tooth you would have in 2004.You can’t
just go to the cupboard and lift out a bar of
chocolate or have a snack.The only time you
do eat is when the rest of the family eats at
meal time and if you don’t like what’s on the
plate then that’s too bad.”
Paul adds:“You get all these thoughts going
through your head; we had storytellers visiting
us the other day and they told us about life in
1904 which is part of our culture, our
background and how people lived 100 years ago.
“As far as I see people have died to give us
better lives and we do appreciate how hard it
was to get your food, to make the money to
put food on the table and we also respect the
huge changes there have been. I wouldn’t like
to be brought up in this; we are struggling to
be here for six weeks, but it’s harder for us as
we are so used to a comfortable bed or a
comfortable sofa.”
.
He concludes: “It’s hard to adapt. It is a sink or
swim situation, but we will swim.”
Century Farm
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Meet the family
Conor McGrath
“In 1904 I would have been the farm manager
taking care of the animals.The pig is the most
important animal on the farm and it does take
a lot of looking after; it needs to be fed more
than the others, but nobody else will go near
the pig. It will pay for half a year’s mortgage on
the house (£24), so it is really important to us.
“My mum and dad milk Anna the cow and have
got very good at it.The one thing you quickly
realise is you can’t ask the chickens to wait
until tomorrow to be fed. Regardless of
everything you have to be up and out to look
after them,” explains Conor.
Has it helped him to gain a better understanding
of how people lived 100 years ago?
Age: 17
“It really does make you appreciate what people
went through, you understand where older
people are coming from when they talk about
the hardships of life. Even down to simple things
like water takes time, as you have to go down
to the well at the bottom of the hill for it as
there’s no running water in the house and it
takes a lot of effort even washing yourself.”
Going into Upper Sixth to sit his A-Levels
Hobbies: Cycling, football, playing guitar
Having absolutely no experience in handling
animals left Conor with a huge challenge when
initially tasked with caring for the farm animals,
including the family’s most prized possession –
a large sow called Babe.
“We had a goldfish in our other life, but it died
of neglect, so you can imagine how we felt
coming on to a farm and seeing the animals for
the first time!” recalls Conor.
Their livestock includes two geese, hens and a
rooster, Delia the cat, Anna the Jersey cow and
Babe the pig.
Century Farm
The 17-year-old student hopes to go to
university to study history and says:
“The way we think in 2004 would be very
different to the way they thought in 1904. It’s
very up and down living here, some days you
can understand why people did things in a
certain way and other days you ask yourself why
it took them such a long time to do certain
things, which can be frustrating but you’ve no
choice and just have to do it to survive.
“We made a pig pen round the back of the
house and had to scythe away all the
undergrowth, but everything takes time and
effort and has to be planned in advance,
something we are not used to in 2004.”
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Meet the family
Neal McGrath
The 13-year-old is hopping around with one
boot on – the other needs mending after the
sole split, but this doesn’t seem to stop him
from wandering up and down the lane outside
the farm and into the nearby fields.
He says: “I have only one pair of boots, but
people of my age in 1904 might not even have
had boots so I am lucky to have them, but I
don’t think the boots are going to last very
long.They have already ripped on me, but we
will see.”
The resourceful teenager has been busy making
things to occupy his time on the farm. He
stands holding a catapult made out of tree bark.
Age: 13
Hobbies: An all-round action man, Neal plays
football, basketball and hurling, participates in
drama, dancing, running and singing, and when
he has time he also plays the French horn
What you miss most from 2004: Fizzy
drinks, sweets, games and trainers
As the youngest male member of the family,
Neal spends his time making bows and arrows,
catapults and balls out of stones and string – a
big change from the mobiles and computer
games of 2004.
Century Farm
“It was my idea to make the bow and arrow,
so I was down in the woods and had a wee
saw with me and cut the wood and got the
elastic from Mummy’s hair bauble from the
material basket in the house. I carved the
wood myself. I was hoping to shoot a rabbit
with it, but I am not allowed! I made a wee
dagger, but it broke and I made a bow and
arrow.The arrows were good and I attached
the feathers to the arrow with candle wax,”
he explains.
Neal admits as each day passes things are
becoming more bearable on Century Farm.
“It’s getting better as the days go on as it’s
getting easier, because you know what’s
coming each day and you know what you are
expected to do. I have my routine, each
morning I put the chickens out and feed them
and then feed the two geese.
“Being a boy of my age living in 1904 would
have been the easiest out of all my family. Paul
goes out to the forge and Conor goes up to
help Daddy with the hay and then I am stuck
11
Meet the family
around the house getting water and helping
Mummy,” he says.
Neal finds the sleeping arrangement
uncomfortable and very cramped.
“My brother Paul and I sleep in the same bed,
but I only have a wee bit of the bed because
Paul has a bad back and takes up most of the
bed. I miss my own bed.”
The family’s one luxury has been a packet of
plain biscuits.
“It would have been a real luxury in 1904 to
have them because they would cost 1s 9d
which is actually quite dear. Nowadays people
take biscuits for granted but in 1904 it was a
big deal. I have to admit I miss fizzy drinks and
chocolate and anything that contains sugar,” he
explains.
Neal adds: “For people sitting at home
watching this programme, it will be quite
obvious from the way we react to things just
how much you had to do back then, as
everything was done manually.
“Cutting down the hay you had to do it with a
scythe and it could have taken up to a month.
Even cooking food you’ve to cook everything
in pot ovens and griddles. Getting turf for the
fire you have to cut it, whereas in 2004 it’s
much, much easier, they don’t know just how
lucky they are!”
Century Farm
12
Meet the family
Fionnola McGrath
really do miss TV.To be honest I didn’t think it
was going to be as bad.
“At the start we just talked every night about
what it would be like to go back home and all
the things we missed from 2004.You realise
you are totally isolated and it’s hard for us
because we know what life is like in other
places, so it would have been easier for people
in 1904 as they wouldn’t have known about life
in other places and wouldn’t have travelled
very much.”
Fionnola says she finds the monotony of her
diet difficult.
“Every morning when you get up it’s bread for
your breakfast and the same for your tea and in
between you get potatoes and vegetables and a
bit of meat. After a while it does get boring but
that’s what people would have eaten. As soon
as I leave and go back to 2004 I will be eating
crisps and fizzy drinks,” she admits.
Age: 12
Hobbies: Fionnola says she wants to be a
famous actress and loves Westlife
What you miss most from 2004: Television
and mobile phones
Adapting to the change from trendy modern
clothes to 1904 dresses and pinnies was a real
culture shock for 12-year-old Fionnola, who is
much more at home in casual clothes.
She recalls: “It felt really weird giving in our
2004 clothes and putting on a dress, it felt
different, as I would never wear one at home. I
am starting to get used to life in 1904, but
Century Farm
Fionnola and her brothers surprised their
mum Marie by making her a birthday cake in
the kitchen, using 1904 utensils, with the help
of a neighbourly ‘farmer’s wife’, Irene, a staff
member of UFTM who demonstrates
traditional cooking methods.
“We made some things for Mummy and she
was really pleased when she came back into the
house and saw them.We felt we had achieved
something good as she works really hard in the
house to make sure everything is OK.”
Fionnola says the family has resolved to make
it through their time on the farm.
“We are determined to last for the six weeks.
It doesn’t sound that long a time but when we
are here all day and there’s not that much for
someone of my age to do time goes really
slowly. It’s not as easy as it looks,” she says.
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