School: St Columba's, Cloonagh, Granard (roll number 12813)

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1. Famine Times

   

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   As far as I can find out, the famine did not cause such a havoc in this district as in most others. The potatoes did not rot in the ground, but they went bad afterwards in the pits, and a fair share of them remained good.
   The people who could afford to give food to the poor, agreed that each would give one meal a day to the inmates(?) of some poor family, and that averted a calamity.

   Another thing that saved this district, was the fact that a rich charitable lady, name Miss Marian Coyle gave a grant of money to provide meal for the poor of this place and the poor from the Gowna portion of the Co Cavan benefited, under this grant, for they came weekly to a depot in this district, where the meal was given out.

   It appears that Miss Coyle's grant was given before any other grant, because the meal known as Miss Coyle's meal, was distributed from a Store on the street where Mr John Keogh occupies now. A second store was set up at Mr Kiernan's a few perches(?) away, and the meal here, was supplied from a government grant.
   Both stores gave out meal for a time, but the former stopped when the proceeds of the grant were exhausted.

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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)

   Informant

   Mr John Kiernan

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cloonagh, Co. Longford