Long ago there was a great famine in Ireland and it lasted for one year. The chief food the people had then was potatoes and this crop rotted in the ground and the people began to starve with the hunger. The food they ate was yellow meal and gruel.
There are not any ruins of houses to be seen in my district that were there long ago. A good number of people died during the famine. People died near hedges and gardens. The name of one of the people whom I know died during the famine is Wille Burns who died in Muckenaugh.
The people in my district long ago ate turnips and yellow meal and gruel. When the farmers long ago were pulling the turnips the poor people used to go out in the farmers' gardens and bring in small pieces of turnips and peel off the skins of them. When they were done they would take them up and eat them with salt.