School: Urbal (roll number 13170)
- Location:
- Urbal, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Eamonn de Faoite
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1038, Page 368
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- XML “The Famine”
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- The years of the Famine were 1846 + 1847.
Caused by the failure of the Potato crop. Many people died from want of food. Turnips, wild cabbage and other plants were greedily eaten by the people. Indian Meal, by being brought into the country, brought relief.
A story is told that a ship with a cargo of meal was being driven on the rocks off Glencolumbkille. It was during the night and word was sent all through the glen. Men rushed out of their beds and was able to save the crew as well as the cargo before the ship broke up. Because of this the people of Glen did not suffer as much from the famine as others did.
