School: Achadh Mhaoláin (roll number 9254)

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1. Famine Times

   

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   Many were the deaths caused by hunger in every district in Ireland during the famine times of 1846 and 1847.

   Of course in some places the people fared better than others and one place where poor people got on better than others was in Co. Leitrim.

   In the townland of Drumreilly there was in the time of the famine what was then called a hospital. This hospital was nothing like the one of the present day. It was nothing more than a hut or house where a very large pot or boiler of "stirabout" was made once or twice every day and this was given to any poor person that went for it - let him be a Protestant or a Catholic.

   Every morning and often in the evening crowds were seen going for this food and some of them nothing more than able to walk with hunger.

   They could eat as much as they liked and this they did because they got so much of hunger that they hardly knew when they had enough eaten.

   Anyone of those would be hungry in less than half an hour after they had eaten no matter how much they were after eating, and the cause of this was that it became a disease like Fever and many other Plagues as well.

   It was Poor Law Guardians or someone sent by them that gave this food and the hut or house where it was made was beside where a man named Alec. Farrelly lived and which is now owned by Harrisons.

   

   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

   Evelyn A. Gallagher

   Gender

   Female

   Informant

   Patrick Keegan

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   Over 70

   Address

   Drumcullion, Co. Leitrim