School: Currans (C.) (roll number 4460)
- Location:
- Currans, Co. Kerry
- Teacher: Nóra, Bean Uí Bhraoin
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0445, Page 037
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- XML School: Currans (C.)
- XML Page 037
- XML “Famine Times”
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- Before the famine of 1846-47 this was a very thickly populated district. In the village of Burrens there were up to a hundred houses before the famine where there are only ten now. The old people still point out the sites of these houses which were mostly mud cabins.In 1845 there was a very bad potato crop in this district. In 1846 the potatoes rotted in the ground and people began to starve. Their food consisted of turnips or cabbage when they could be had. Sometimes they had nothing but the turnip leaves or nettle which they boiled and endeavoured to eat.Often corpses were seen by the roadside with the green stain of the nettles on their lips. Farmers who were lucky enough to have some cabbage had to guard it as people went roaming around searching for food and the farmer could not afford to give them anything or he would starve himself.(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Maureen Griffin
- Gender
- Female
