School: Askamore (roll number 15675)
- Location:
- Askamore, Co. Wexford
- Teacher: Margaret McGrath
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0895, Page 051
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- XML “Famine Times”
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- In the year 1846-47 we had a great Famine which effected the district very much owing to the failure of the potato crop. Many people lost their lives through poverty and hardship and others went to America because of hunger.
At that period people lived mainly on potatoes and turnips, but when the blight came on the potato crop, nearly all the potatoes were destroyed. They could not afford to eat the potatoes that escaped , as they wanted them for seed for the following year.
Then the Goverment sent out a relief of Indian meal at 2s 6d per stone.To spare this meal, the people used to mix boiled turnips with it. A story is told that on one occasion that Mr. Doyle, Carnew, Parish of Tomacork, Co. Wicklow,had only 2s 5d and he went to a shop to buy a stone of meal, but he was not allowed the meal without the other penny.
It was only the well to do farmers who had any turnips to mix with the meal. Mr. John Murphy, Co. Wexford was put in prison for stealing two turnips to mix with the meal when he was coming home from work. He was a widower with five children who were dying of hunger but he got no mercy.
- Collector
- Annie Reddy
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Askamore, Co. Wexford
- Informant
- Mr Michael Mc Evoy
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Monasootagh, Co. Wexford
