School: Bán-Tír (C.) (roll number 2804)
- Location:
- Banteer, Co. Cork
- Teacher: Síle, Bean Uí Dheadaigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0361, Page 716
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- Information from - Michael Mahony, Shronebeha, Banteer. Age - 55 years
His father Patrick Mahony who died about 40 years ago aged 50 years
The great famine was caused by blight. This blight destroyed the potato crop in the summer of 1845 and again in 1846. The first sign of blight showed after a great fog and a fierce storm. The leaves of the potato stalks showed brown in patches at first and then the disease spread very rapidly. In the earth the potatoes began to rot and when the farmers noticed this they dug them out and put them into pits. However this did not improve matters because the decay continued but before they were all completely destroyed some kind of *bread was made of them.
The English government gave me help practically until the famine was far advanced, then they have money and seed potatoes to the Irish, but the suffering people were too week to undertake any work no matter how light, even the planting of the seed. Shiploads of Indian Corn and Indian meal were sent to the starving people by the Irish who had emigrated to America. All the Irish corn had to be sent out to England to pay the landlords rent.
About one million of the Irish died of hunger and sickness and about another million immigrated to United States, Canada, England & Scotland.
- Collector
- Elizabeth Mahony
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Shronebeha, Co. Cork
- Informant
- Michael Mahony
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 55
- Address
- Shronebeha, Co. Cork
