My grandma on my dad's side of the family always had a pan of lard in the kitchen. She'd melt it and deep fry chips in it. Then we learned that lard wasn't really good for you, and she switched to vegetable oil. My grandad was not happy about that at all. Chips fried in oil wasn't doing it properly.

I believe there has been some recent scientific evidence to suggest repeated use of the same fat for frying is actually less harmful with saturated fats like lard than with polyunsaturated oils. The unsaturated bonds in the mono and polyunsaturated fats are less thermally stable so the fat molecules start to fall apart to give more toxic byproducts. Whether or not the effect is more or less damaging to health than eating lots of saturated fat, as with anything to do with food is up for debate.

Don't think I've ever used lard for frying, in pastry yes but not for frying.

When I lived in Sheffield my local Chippy used beef dripping - a totally different taste to the normal Veg oil