This is the story of a family and how they survived the Irish Famine. Told through the eyes of 9 year old Declan, we see the failure of the potato crop in 1845 and the family's attempts to survive on the land. After a second crop failure, the family is evicted and makes its way on foot to Dublin during the coldest winter in memory. Eventually, the family is forced to seek refuge in the workhouse and we experience the squalor of day to day life there for both the adults and children. Somehow the family survives and sets sail for a new life in America, leaving Declan in Dublin with his new apprenticeship. Through flaps, pop-up and vivid illustrations, the reality of the Irish famine is brought to life for children.
Based on a wide selection of resources, this record of the Great Famine provides a graphic picture of conditions in the Irish countryside as the crisis developed. It combines analysis and an overview with a focus on the worst-hit areas.
Although the story opens and closes in present-day Spain, the real beginnings are set in the early 1900s when, in Africa, the well-equipped army of the British Empire was being humbled by a few Boer farmers whose only uniform was a slouch hat and a bandolier over everyday work clothes. In England, with the wealth of the aristocracy in decline, Lord and Lady Blanchford-Carter decided to augment their dwindling finances by transforming part of their stately mansion into a high-class brothel for the upper echelons of society. Into this strange household came the young and innocent Helen Sarsfield to commence employment as a scullery maid. In Ireland, Helen's twin brother enlisted in the Connaught Rangers, and would soon depart for Africa, leaving behind his sweetheart in an Ireland rife with talks of insurrection; a place where James Connolly was reminding people that England's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity.
THE HUNGER is the exciting tale of a girl swept up in the fight for a free and fair Ireland, set at the time of the Potato Famine. It's 1845, and blight has destroyed the precious potato crop leaving Ireland starving. Phyllis works hard to support her struggling family, but when her mother's health deteriorates she sets off in search of her rebel brother and is soon swept up in Ireland's fight for freedom...
During the Great Famine in Ireland in the 1840s, three children are left alone and in danger of being sent to the workhouse, so they set out to find the great-aunts they remember from their mother's stories.
This fascinating, fully illustrated volume is the definitive guide to every aspect of the workhouse and of the poor relief system in which it played a pivotal part. Compiled by Peter Higginbotham, one of Britain's best-known experts on the subject, this A-Z cornucopia covers everything from the 1725 publication An Account of Several Work-houses to the South African Zulu admitted to Fulham Road Workhouse in 1880. With hundreds of fascinating anecdotes, plus priceless information for researchers including workhouse locations throughout the British Isles, useful websites and archive repository details, maps, plans, original workhouse publications and an extensive bibliography, it will delight family historians and general readers alike. Where was my local workhouse? What records did they keep? What is gruel and is it really what inmates lived on? How did you get out of a workhouse? What famous people were once workhouse inmates? Are there any workhouse buildings I can visit? If these are the kinds of questions you've ever wanted to know the answer to, then this is the book for you.
With one million dead, and just as many forced to emigrate, the Irish Famine (1845-52) is among the worst health calamities in history. Because historical records of the Victorian period in Ireland were generally written by the middle and upper classes, relatively little has been known about those who suffered the most, the poor and destitute. But in 2006, archaeologists excavated an until then completely unknown intramural mass burial containing the remains of nearly 1,000 Kilkenny Union Workhouse inmates. In the first bioarchaeological study of Great Famine victims, Jonny Geber uses skeletal analysis to tell the story of how and why the Famine decimated the lowest levels of nineteenth century Irish society. Seeking help at the workhouse was an act of desperation by people who were severely malnourished and physically exhausted. Overcrowded, it turned into a hotspot of infectious disease--as did many other union workhouses in Ireland during the Famine. Geber reveals how medical officers struggled to keep people alive, as evidenced by cases of amputations but also craniotomies. Still, mortality rates increased and the city cemeteries filled up, until there was eventually no choice but to resort to intramural burials. Deceased inmates were buried in shrouds and coffins--an attempt by the Board of Guardians of the workhouse to maintain a degree of dignity towards these victims. By examining the physical conditions of the inmates that might have contributed to their institutionalization, as well as to the resulting health consequences, Geber sheds new and unprecedented light on Ireland’s Great Hunger.
Famine Ghost: Englands Genocide of the Irish,/i> Famine Ghost is a book of historical fiction, the story of the Irish Famine (1845-1850) as seen through the eyes of young Johnjoe Kevane. He and his family are evicted from their cottage in Dingle. Disdaining the option of life in the local workhouse, the Kevanes sail in a coffin ship to Grosse Ile in Canada. Johnjoe keeps a diary of his familys suffering in the dark bowels of the overcrowded ship. When his parents die of ship fevertyphusJohnjoe returns home to exact revenge on the landlord, Major Mahon. OKeefe has delicately balanced history with touching humanity and humor. He has provided readers with a vivid tale, surprising in all the right ways, and an unabashed glimpse into the shocking truth of the Irish Famine. A masterful read cover to cover. --Sara Wolski, literary agent Famine Ghost captures the realities of the 1845-1850 Great Irish Famine and is filled with valuable research on the tragedy. An imaginative and thoughtful author, OKeefe has a real gift for the dialog and pace of language of 19th century Ireland. His vivid portrayal and historical perspective bring the hardships of Irelands troubles to our awareness in the 21st century, like no other book. --Helen Gallagher, Computer Clarity, www.cclarity.com
