seven to three o'clock
in the afternoon
In these old times it was quite a common experience for myself to leave home at six o'clock in the morning so as to be at the station-house by seven . By the way , you did murder the names of the mountain town-lands when calling the stations last Sunday . You must try and get the ` bloss ' of the Irish on your tongue . Well , we usually heard confessions from seven to three o'clock in the afternoon , with just an interval for breakfast -- '' `` Pardon me , sir , but do you mean to say the people remained fasting and received Holy Communion at three o'clock ? '' `` Yes , my dear young man , that was an every-day experience . I remember a mission that was given in the town of N -- , where I was curate in ' 54 , the year the first great missions were given by Fathers Bernard and Petcherine . One evening , dead tired after a continuous day 's work , I was crossing the church toward the sacristy , when a huge shaggy countryman stopped me .