I live in Straid. Straid means street.

My family has lived there for a very long time.

Straid is a clachan which means a group of houses.

There was a blacksmith's and other businesses too.

Around 1870 Straid was like a small industrial estate.

Charles McIlhern was a wheelwright.

A Family of Morrisons had a bakery.

George Connor had a shop.

The present house of the McNeill family was once owned by a tailor called Willie Whiteford.

Johnny White's house was once the home of a Dennis McKay who was a shoemaker.

At one time James Stewart had a blacksmith's shop in Straid. The local tradition tells us that his family was one of the servants that accompanied Bonny Prince Charlie on his flight from Scotland. The tradition also tells us that the prince spent a night at Mullarts. We do not know when James Stewart started business. He was operating in 1852 when his children entered the school in Knocknacarry. In 1864 we think the forge was closed and that the owner of the premises was now Daniel Me Donnell.