School: Tobar Rua (roll number 15427)

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1. The Famine Times

   

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   The famine times The famine in this district was caused by the failure of the potato crop. The old man who told me about the famine said that it was sent as a punishment from god on the people, because the year before it happened potatoes grew very well, so well indeed that the people could not use them and they were left to decay in the pits. The next year however the blight destroyed the whole crop in one night. When the farmers awoke they found they stalks and leaves withered and blackened as if by frost but this was impossible as it was the month of June. Anybody who had any potatoes to sow the following year were awarded by a fine crop. The people died of hunger and of course their half starved relatives were not able to bury them properly. They graveyards were filled to overflowing and many were buried on the roadside or in the fields. The poor houses or work houses were also filled and the people were turned away to die by the roadside. Disease spread with the famine an those who did not die from starvation died of disease. Many people are buried along on the Keelogues road

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   Topics

   1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
         1. the great famine (~4,013)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Margaret Joyce

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Lisnageeragh, Co. Galway