School: Coolderry
- Location:
- Coolderry, Co. Offaly
- Teacher: L. Mac Conriada
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0818, Page 090
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- XML “Famine Times”
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- Famine Times
During he famine of 1846-67 The townland of Ballybeg was very thickly populated. Hunger and disease prevailed to extremes. My great grand father had the seed potatoes and fearing they would be taken for food he hid them in the turf clamps. Putting the turf securley outside. When the potatoes were fairly well grown they had to be guarded at night time. As there was no food in the district at the time and only the Govenment gae out indian meal which was made into porridge twice a week and given out at Mr Acres house at Ballybeg. when the potatoe crop failed they became bad for food and fever followed people died in great numbers and that year has been remembered since as black 47. There are no sites of houses remaining but several fields bear the names of their former owners. Such as Prollicks field, Sheeshans [?] field Tynans field and other. Oat meal was used by any people fortunate to have it with new milk and sometimes buttermilk. It has been related in the district that a man worked for three days without food and able bodied young men volunteered to walk from Shinrone a distance of four miles to mow all day if they could be afforded a meal
