School: Baile an Bhunánaigh (B.) (roll number 16851)

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1. Famine Times

   

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   Famine Times

   Old people have many stories about the famine which overspread Ireland from 1846 to 1848. One day a woman in Ballyeigh sent her husbands in to town for yellow meal. Time and again she went out to see was she coming but no, and then she began to despair but looking out she saw the field dotted with mushrooms. She thanked God and then she (thanked - deleted) went out and picked the mushrooms and herself and her children eat them.

   The people were dyeing along the roads and it was only last year the William carmody of Killahenny found the skeleton of a man and a set of fake teeth in his garden. It is said that this man died during the famine. The famine was very bad here. The food the people had was boiled nettles, turnips, yellow meal. They used to mix the yellow meal with the boiled nettles and eat them. The farmers used to give the milk to the poor people who were in want. Once a houseful of children were crying to their mother for their dinner but she had nothing to give them so she put down a potful of stones to placate them. Then in walked a strange man who sat down. He was inside a long time and he said to the woman "The dinner ought to be boiled now" says he "Even if stones were down they would be boiled now" "Well to tell you the truth" says the woman "they are stones" "Take them up anyway" said he so she took them up. Instead of a potful of stones she found a potful of

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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

   Collector

   Vincent Leahy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Ballyeagh, Co. Kerry