School: Streamstown (roll number 15291)
- Location:
- Streamstown, Co. Westmeath
- Teacher: S. Garland
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0734, Page 131
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- This district suffered very much during the Famine Times of 1846, '47 and '48. It was very thickly populated and the old people say that there were at least twenty houses to every mile of the road, while at present there are only five or six to the mile.The principled food of the people at that time was the potatoes and on that account they had a large number of acres under tillage.The year that the potato crop failed, the potatoes seemed to be very promising and were flourishing early in July. But late in the same month the blight came on them like a "thief in the night" and in a short time there was not a green leaf to be seen on the potato stalks. Most of the potatoes decayed in the ground and any that were saved, decayed afterwards in the pits. In 1848 the people planted the potatoes in(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Cecilia Reid
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Killalea, Co. Westmeath
- Informant
- Dan Reid
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 45
- Address
- Killalea, Co. Westmeath
