School: Stoneyford, Thomastown (roll number 3029)

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1. A Story of Famine Times

   

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   Most of the Irish people have heard something of the Famine that affected this country about ninety years ago. It did not do a lot of damage in this locality, and did not cause many deaths. The food was not very scarce because there were a lot of rich Protestants living around here and they owned large estates on which a lot of food was grown, and, on account of that, large numbers of people were employed. This district was not thickly populated before that time and there are not many ruins to be seen to-day. "Yellow Stirabout" was the chief food of the people instead of potatoes at that time. The potatoes were very plentiful in the years 1844 and 1845 and on account of this the people did not think much of them. They threw them in the dykes and fences and they gradually. On the following year when the people went to look for them they were getting black and bad. The people then put them in pits but they decayed altogether. The people were then without potatoes. They had corn, pigs, butter and eggs as well as potatoes but all

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Michael Ragget

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Lácas, Co. Chill Chainnigh

   Informant

   Nicholas Ragget

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   65

   Address

   Lácas, Co. Chill Chainnigh