Sentence:  Many of us being bachelors, lived in rented out dilapidated old houses which were called "<WSD>chummeries</WSD>". The men from Jaffna, whether married or not, also lived in their own <WSD>chummeries</WSD>—mostly around Wellawatte, Dehiwala and Ratmalana. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The shared home of a group of men who are unmarried or working at a distance from their families.