School: An Corr Dubh (roll number 14339)

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1. The Famine Times

   

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   The great famine occurred in the years 1846-47. The most of the people of Ireland died in that famine. The potato crop failed but the oats did not. The Irish people had no money and they had to sell their oats to get money to pay the rent to the landlord or they would be put out of their places.

   There was a boiler set up in every town-land where they used to boil Indian meal for the people. There was one on the top of the post office "brae" beside Willie Stretton's gate in the town-land of Aughavas.

   There was a boy who stood on the edge of one of those boilers to scrape around the edge and fell in and was burned to death On another occasion there was a man, who went to the shop for Indian meal; on the way he became hungry and would not taste it until he would go home and when he went in on his own door he fell dead. There was another man who also went to the shop for meal; when he came back his family was dead.

   During the famine the people died in great numbers first they used to roll the dead body in a sheet, and bring it to the burying ground where it was buried. The sheet was not put in along with the body, but it was brought back for the next person that would die. After that they got a slide

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   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

   Informant

   P. Mc Entire

   Age

   61

   Address

   Gradoge, Co. Leitrim