School: Mohill (2) (roll number 8673)
- Location:
- Mohill, Co. Leitrim
- Teacher: Éamonn Bairéad
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0215, Page 223
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- Old William Reilly's mother lived in the same house in Cornagresh as he does. During the famine the were not so badly off as the other people and generally managed to have a bag of oaten meal in the house. The were very much carried by their less fortunate neighbours though they had not a great deal of riches, and were just a little farther from starvation than their neighbours. One night Mrs Reilly went to bed and left about a quarter hundred of oatmeal in a little bag in the kitchen. About daybreak she heard a noise in the kitchen and paid no heed to it at the time. Then she began to wonder was anything wrong. She got up and found the door open and the meal gone. She looked out and saw a woman a few fields away with the bag on her back. She recognised the thief and at first was going after her. Then she changed her mind and went in. "That woman came here to save a starving family", she said, "and God wouldn't forgive me if I kept it from her".
