School: Liath-Mhuine
- Location:
- Liafuine, Co. Shligigh
- Teacher: Bean Mhic Fhionnlaoich
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0163, Page 332
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- XML School: Liath-Mhuine
- XML Page 332
- XML “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
- I have often heard the old people speak of the Great Famine which was in the years 1846-1847 and of how it effected this district.In the year 1846 the potato crop failed by blight on the stalks, this blight came owing to the wet Summer which preceded it. The people were ignorant then and did not know anything about spraying. That year the potatoes rotted in the pits. The year following they failed in the drills because of the bad seed. I have heard of men, who spent days digging and were very glad to return with a pocket-full of Póiridé - or small potatoes to cook for the supper.The following year the Government gave Relief seed called Champions. They were sown in drills and ridges, with very little manure from the farm-yards. Some had good crops and others bad. Those who had not good crops were discouraged and would not put them down again, but those who did had an abundant crop.Instead of the food the people had before the famine, they had to do with turnips, sometimes boiled and often raw. They also ate grass and roots. Those who lived near the sea ate shell-fish, such as perri-winkles and Báirneachi, they also ate Dilisc and Carrigeen-moss and other different kinds of sea-weed.The Government then gave relief to the starving people by sending Indian meal all through the country,(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Sadie Henry
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- An Cartún, Co. Shligigh
