School: Mercy Convent, Granard (roll number 13846)
- Location:
- Granard, Co. Longford
- Teacher: Sr. Conception
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0764, Page 053
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- 53
Famine Times
3rd March, 1938. The famine affected this district very much. Before the famine there were twenty houses in my townland and at present there are only ten.
The year before the famine potatoes were very plentiful, so plentiful that some of them were thrown into the gripes. The blight appeared in the form of a little black spot on the leaves of the potato stocks, so that the potato stocks withered, and the potatoes decayed in the ground. On account of the potato being the staple food of the people at that time, the result was a calamitious famine that the people had never witnessed before.
The "Relief Works" given by the Government were useless, and the people died in great numbers from starvation. They were seen dead(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Kathleen Dawson
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 16
- Address
- Carrickduff, Co. Longford
- Informant
- Mr Patrick Dawson
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 48
- Address
- Carrickduff, Co. Longford
