School: Carrickgorman
- Location:
- Carrickgorman, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: M. Fleming
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1006, Page 086
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- For many years before the famine of 1845 to 1849, the principal food of the people in this locality was potatoes, in those days tea was unknown to the people, potatoes were made into cakes for breakfast with milk, while oat meal porridge was taken by the young and old for supper, and frequently for breakfast also.
The variety of potatoes known as the "The Cups were very plentiful in 1843 - 1844, and were thrown in heaps alongside the fences and allowed to rot, probably as a punishment for carelessness. "The Cups" were a complete failure in 1847, throughout Ireland some of the old people attribute this to the diseased seed, which showed itself on the stalks and leaves in small black spots, which we now call "Blight", and the potatoes were very small.
In 1847 the famine was causing a vast number of deaths from starvation and fevers, many died in the fields and alongside the fences, and their bodies were not buried for over 10 days, as(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Emrys Roundtree
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Carrickgorman, Co. Cavan
- Informant
- Mr Michael Traynor
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Togher, Co. Cavan
