The Famine in Ireland

Milltown, Co. Galway

There was a famine in Ireland in the year 1846. The famine was caused by the failure of the potato crop. It failed in that year and it was caused by the blight The blight fell in every potato crop in Ireland at that time. It was called black ‘46.

In 1846 and 1847 the people died by tons of thousands of starvation and disease and want and fever. The people of Ireland sowed other crops as well as potato crops. They sowed grain crops also and the English people used to take 1/10 of the grain crops. The English people were glad when the potato crop failed because they thought that all the Irish people would die of starvation and that it would be the end of the Irish race.

But at that time hundreds of Irish people emigrated to America. They were sent by the English thinking that they would get rid of them. The boats that they were sent in were worse than the boats the people have nowadays for shipping cattle in. A great many of them died on the way over.

Collector: Nora Greaney, Pollaturick, Co. Galway

Informant: Frank Greaney, Pollaturick, Co. Galway

Place: Milltown, Co. Galway

Tag: famine, blight, potatoes, English, gain, starvation, boats, death

Footnote: Duchas, http://www.duchas.ie

This page was added on 26/05/2017.

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