1. dúchas.ie
  2. The Schools' Collection
  3. Snaidhm (B.)

School: Snaidhm (B.) (roll number 8251)

Location:
Sneem, Co. Kerry
Teacher:
Muiris Mac Gearailt
Browse
Mode:
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0468, Page 031

Archival Reference

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0468, Page 031

Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

See copyright details.

Download

Open data

Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

  1. XML School: Snaidhm (B.)
  2. XML Page 031
  3. XML “Story of Famine Times”

Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.

On this page

  1. Story of Famine Times

    Share Share Post
    Long ago the people of Ireland lived principally on the potato, but in 1845 and '46 the crop failed and there was a great famine. Thousands died of starvation and fever and were buried where they fell.
    In Myles Sullivan's farm in Dreenavourig near Sneem we can still see the remains of an old Fothrach in which 17 persons were buried. The roof was thrown down on top of them.
    The poor peasants used pick sally and briar leaves and after grinding them between stones ate them.
    They also picked 'Dúlamán' which they got growing on manure heaps and Puirseach Bhuidhe also turnips and 'yellow Bulloks'.
    On the road to Kenmare my great -great-grandmother passed three people lying on the side of the road sick.
    A man riding on a mare milked her and gave the milk to them to drink
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    History Edit
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Robert Topham
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    13
    Address
    Sneem, Co. Kerry
    Informant
    Richard Mansfield
    Relation
    Relative (other than parent or grandparent)
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    46
    Occupation
    Farmer
    Address
    Sneem, Co. Kerry