School: Gleann
- Location:
- Glan, Co. Cork
- Teacher: (name not given)
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1128, Page 092
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- The old people still tell stories of the Great Famine days of eighteen forty six and seven when the poor people died of starvation by the roadside.
The poor country-people at the time of the famine had not any food, but potatoes and milk. Their bread was made from grated potatoes and was called "stampy". The tea they always used was peppermint tea.
Peppermint tea was made from the peppermint plant try pulling and seasoning it. It was then boiled in the kettle and strained, and the liquid drank. Adjoining every house long ago was a very small field, in which grew the peppermint. In the corner of the garden at home there is some peppermint still growing. Sometimes if it was plentiful, milk was put into the tea.
During the famine even the black potatoes were grated. For years "stampy" was the chief meal of the ordinary people and also oatmeal-gruel[?]
The cause of the famine was the disease and failure of the potato crop. The blight(continues on next page)
