School: Rathcoyle, Kiltegan

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1. Famine Times (continued)

   

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   the years of 1846 and 1847. The potato crop completely failed in Ireland in those years. The years previous to 1846 potatoes were never as plenty before. It is said the people did not require the potatoes. They thew them in ditches and lanes. The following year the blight appeared in small black patches on the leaves of the potato plant. Later on the leaves became covered altogether, and finally they withered away. The people at that time were altogether depending on the potato for their food. Some people say the famine was a punishment from God for having wasted the precious food in previous years. During the famine the people died in thousands by the roadside from hunger and fever. Some of the people that existed after the famine emigrated to other countries. In order to provide work for the people, the Government had several new roads constructed throughout the country. The government provided potatoes for the people in order to start the potato crop again in Ireland. During the famine years the workhouses were full of people dying with hunger and seeking for work.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
         1. the great famine (~4,013)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Sarah Heffernan

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   50

   Address

   Carrignamweel, Co. Wicklow