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1. Stories of the Great Famine of '47 (continued)

   

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   the village with her only son a lad about ten or twelve years got the plague?/ fever which accompanied the Famine. She struggled on and would have probably recovered when unfortunately the boy got the fever and died within a few hours. At the time several bodies were left unburied for days, until the "Dead Van" used to collect them. This was some kind of public thing specially got up for gathering the bodies and then getting them buried to gether in large numbers. The people at the time had a horror of this van especially this poor widow.
   Finding her strength failing and fearing that if she died that her sons body and her own would be taken in the "Dead Van" and not buried in their proper burial ground in Ballinaltig, she took her sons dead body in her arms and started for Ballinaltig which was two and a half miles distant. Her cries as she struggled along the road were terrible. About a hundred yards from the Churchyard of Ballinaltig there is a very steep hill; up this hill the poor woman staggered when suddenly her strength gave way and she fell dead. The neighbours took the two bodies and placed them in their proper graves.
   A grant was given to this district which relieved the district due to the famine to some little extent.
   A new road was to be made from Ardnageeha

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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

   May Sarsfield

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Skahanagh South, Co. Cork

   Informant

   Patrick O' Connor

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Condonstown South, Co. Cork