School: Ceathrú na Laithighe (Brownsgrove) (roll number 12138)

Location:
Brownsgrove, Co. Galway
Teacher:
Pádhraic Ó hAnnracháin
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0040, Page 0462

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0040, Page 0462

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  1. XML School: Ceathrú na Laithighe (Brownsgrove)
  2. XML Page 0462
  3. XML “The Famine in Our District”

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  1. The famine affected the people around this district just as in other places. Some people died and whole families were forced to emigrate to England and America. Around this district the potatoes rotted in the ground that is just after the people had sown them they were affected by the blight; the gasses of the potatoes withered away and the potatoes ceased to grow and rotted in the ground.
    The people knew no cure for this disease (the blight) and were thoroughly frightened when they saw that the leaves were covered with tiny black spots. So they waited until October which was the usual time for digging them and then dug what they could get which in most cases were a few black póirtíns and brought them into the house.
    There was a woman named Bid Mháirtín from this place (she lived in Marlay) and the year after the potatoes rotting in the ground she saved up all the sound potatoes from the previous year and did not eat even one of them and she cut them into slits and sowed them out
    in the garden. But after she had sowed them her family began crying for food and a week after she had sowed the slits she had to dig them up again and eat them.
    Some of Bid's family died with the hunger and two of them went to America and sometimes afterwards Bid
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
        1. the great famine (~4,013)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Mary Mc Gagh
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Beagh (Browne), Co. Galway
    Informant
    Patrick Mc Gagh
    Gender
    Male
    Age
    50
    Address
    Beagh (Browne), Co. Galway