School: Boston, Tubber (roll number 10763)
- Location:
- Boston, Co. Clare
- Teacher: Thos. Noone
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0614, Page 086
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- XML School: Boston, Tubber
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- The bad times or famine years 1848 affected this district terribly. Here in the village of Boston where there are now only four houses there was previous to the famine a very large village - the houses were all joined together the same as in a town. There was at least fifty times as many people living in it as there are now.
The failure of the potatoes crops to grow owing to the blight was the cause of the famine. 1847 was the first year the blight appeared in this district. The year previous to the famine there was a very plentiful crop of potatoes. Each potato was almost as large as a mangel. The people were too sure of food - so sure were they that they never "turned" the potatoes in the pits ÷ the potatoes sprouted out through the pits. They sowed these potatoes that spring and then came the blight the following harvest which rotted all the potatoes in the drills. People then believed that the blackening of the potatoes was a punishment from God owing to their neglect and laziness in not turning the potatoes in the pit the previous year.
The people of this district had no sound seed for sowing next year. Some sowed(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Mary Noone
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- James O' Connor
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 78
- Address
- Boston, Co. Clare
