School: Kilbeg (roll number 11039)

Location:
Robertstown, Co. Meath
Teacher:
-
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0708, Page 185

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0708, Page 185

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  3. XML “The Famine Time”

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  1. The people who lived through the famine and now nearly all dead, and the stories about it were handed down to the next generation. The year before the famine was a year of abundance, the potatoes were so plentiful that the people threw them in the dykes.
    There were men who went to Drogheda to sell their potatoes; one of the men’s names was Owen Gaffney and another Henry Smyth. They could not get anyone to buy them and when they were coming home they threw them into the Boone. The year of the famine there came a terrible blight and the potatoes decayed. Some of them decayed before they were dug and others in pits The people died in great numbers with starvation.
    Pat Brien, Mr Farrelly’s grandfather went from the Silvergate to Lough Sheehan to get two barrels of potatoes. Potatoes were very scarce and the people had to go miles before they could get any. After the famine a lot of sickness was in
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Julia Smyth
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Robertstown, Co. Meath
    Informant
    Mr Francis Farrelly
    Gender
    Male
    Address
    Kilbeg, Co. Meath