School: Greaghagarran
- Location:
- Greaghagarran, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: B.Nic Fhearghusa
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1014, Page 317
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- XML “Famine Times”
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- Old people have plenty of stories about the great Famine of 1646 and 1847. It affected our district very much. It was a very thickly populated district before that time, but the Famine left many a vacant house. People still point out the remains of houses that were vacated in those days of hardship and starvation.
It was mostly all due to the failure of the potato-crop, which before then was the principal food of the people. The only thing they could get to eat was Indian-Meal, raw turnips and weeds.
The Government then started relief measures to give employment, whereby the people could earn some money with which to buy food, and large sums of money were subscribed for their benefit in America. Notwithstanding those helps, large numbers of people died of starvation and disease.
- Collector
- Minnie Lynch
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 15
