Did Your Irish Ancestor Live Through This Terrible Time? (#836)

In this episode we look at a very difficult time in Ireland - one that triggered a time of death across the population of the island as well as emigration for many generations afterwards. I'm talking, of course, about "An Gorta Mór" - also known as "The Great Hunger" or "The Great Famine" of the mid 1800s.

The first letter looks at a particular landless class in Ireland - who formed a sizeable percentage of our population - but who were, more or less, wiped out during the Famine.

I wrote the second letter when I came across an account from 1847 which profiled particular families in a townland in West Cork. That account was all about my own O'Regan ancestors of that townland. It certainly stopped me in my tracks!

We also have Irish songs of emigration (and one on optimism for the future) to help us focus on this time.

Music featured in this episode:

• "Spancil Hill" performed by The Wolfe Tones.
• "The Emigrants Farewell" performed by Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.
• "The West's Awake" performed by Lumiere and Damien Dempsey.

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