School: Ceis Carraigín (roll number 13849)

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1. The Famine Days in this Locality

   

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   I asked my father John Flynn, Gowley for a famine story, and he told me the following story heard from his father. During the years 1846, and 1848 the people in this locality suffered much. During this time the potato was the chief food of the people. They ate potatoes for breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper. When the failure came on the potatoes they had nothing to eat.

   My father told met that when his father used to throw out the cabbage stumps on the dunkle they would be gone next morning by some hungry people.

   All that time people had to go to work first, and then come in when a pot of Indian meal would be boiled. This was put out in holes in the floor, and each person used to sit down on the floor and eat his fill. Few people could afford this because meal was expensive.

   People ate grease, cabbage stumps, turnips, and water cress. They could be seen eat in the fields gathering weeds. People died from hunger in thousands ? Some of the

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Annie Flynn

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Gowly, Co. Leitrim

   Informant

   John Flynn

   Relation

   Parent

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Gowly, Co. Leitrim