Today at Assembly we remembered the Irish Famine which happened between 1845 and 1851. Some children from Second Class told us the story of the Famine. Then we had a minutes silence to commemorate all the Irish People who died during that terrible time. The people living in Ireland at that time used to eat potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A disease called blight hit the potatoes growing in the fields.When this happened the poor people were left with no food to eat. For the next five years the people were very hungry.People lost their homes and had to go to live in workhouses. Many of them were very sick. About one million people died. As there was little food to eat in Ireland a lot of people emigrated. Most of those who emigrated went to live in Britain. Many also went to America and Canada on ships like "The Jeannie Johnson" The trip to America took over one month on a boat and the people on board were all squashed into little rooms. Many did not survive the voyage. Those who survived the journey got jobs working in factories or building roads and railways in their new countries.
Photo of Jeannie Johnson courtesy of OPW.
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