School: Benbawn
- Location:
- Binbane, Co. Cavan
- Teacher: M. Gillespie
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1019, Page 101
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- XML “Tales of the Irish Famine”
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- Famine means the scarcity of food or water. Famine is generally caused by two things which are, too much rain or too little rain. In foreign countries famine is caused by scarcity of water, but in Ireland the famine was caused by too much rain.
The famine which began in the year 1847 known as Black Forty Seven. The year 1849 was the worst as it was said to rain every day for two years. The rain destroyed all the crops, but it destroyed the potato crop most. In those days people put in the potato crop very late, and in the 16th of August when the people got up the blight was seen on the potato crop for the first time.
The country was then very thickly populated, there was eight millions of people in Ireland then, twice as large as at the present day.
The people during the famine lived on potatoes, buttermilk, and oatmeal. The oatmeal was then made at home(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Olive Ebbitt
- Gender
- Female
- Address
- Drumerkillew, Co. Cavan
- Informant
- Willie Parr
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Cordoagh Glebe Upper, Co. Cavan
