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School: Adoon (roll number 11152)

Location:
Adoon, Co. Leitrim
Teacher:
Charles Flynn
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0222, Page 329

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0222, Page 329

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  1. The Famine

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    The people of this district were amongst the heaviest sufferers by the failure of the potato.
    In this townland for instance there were 12 houses and an average of 6 persons in each house but to-day (1938) there are only 4 houses and about 25 persons.
    Before the famine the potatoes grew in great quantities in this district and it is said that if they were stored away then that the people would not die for want of food during the famine years.
    When the blight appeared first it was not very noticeable neither did it affect the potato stalks very much, but when the people started to dig them out, they discovered the great harm it had done because almost all the potatoes were decayed.
    No seed potatoes came in the following year but an odd stalk grew up in the fields that were tilled the preceding year and there was an immense quantity on those stalks.
    The staple food of the people in those days was potatoes, but when those failed, they
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    History Edit
    Topics
    1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
        1. the great famine (~4,013)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Martha Bohan
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Adoon, Co. Leitrim