School: Gort an Iubhair

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1. The Famine (continued)

   

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   A farm of ten acres was considered a very good farm Some of the farms were as small as two or three acres Each farm had to support eight or nine people on an average. The land was poor but it grew a good quantity of potatoes and oats.
   In 1847 the people sold some of the oats to pay the rents as they had to be paid at that time of the year. When they went out to dig the potatoes they found none to their wonder and grief but odd ones. They knew that the oatmeal would only last them a few months and when that was gone they would have nothing to eat. Every crop of potatoes failed so that there were no potatoes in the country. The people eat as little as they could but as little as they eat the food was gone in a very short time. They had no money to buy and food and there was no food to be sold Even the rich farmers had to keep themselves alive All the poor people were dying in the fields and along the roads. Anything they could see that was eatable they eat it. Anthony Regan was found dead on the way to Ballaghaderreen. It was found that he died in the want of something to eat
   Many died in that year 1847 but following year was worse for they had no potatoes or oats to sow for they were all eaten. When the English saw that the Irish were dying with the hunger, they sent over ship-loads of Indian meal to Ireland. At first the people had

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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

   Patrick Egan

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Gortanure, Co. Roscommon