School: Killyconnan (B.)
- Location:
- Killyconnan, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: P. Kearney
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0979, Page 033
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- XML “Famine Times”
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- The old people used to tell stories about the Great Famine of 1846-47, but unfortunately these stories are now forgotten. The famine affected the district very much, and much suffering and loss of life resulted. Many old houses were left unoccupied, but the people cannot point out the sites of these houses.
The potatoes decayed in the ground, and the crop was a failure. It is said that a small boy could carry in a bag on his back what five men would dig.
The people were obliged to eat turnips and bran. Government relief reached the district. Indian porridge was boiled in a huge boiler in the town of Stradone, each person getting a nogginful once a day. A noggin was a vessel shaped like a porringer and was made of wood.
The people were so poor that they could not provide coffins for their dead relatives, and they placed the corpses in linen bags, conveying(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Patrick Kearney
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Killyconnan, Co. Cavan
- Informant
- Mr John Tierney
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 55
- Address
- Lavey, Co. Cavan
