Conway Mill Trust

September 1845 was the beginning of “The Great Hunger”, a disaster which lasted until 1850. The population of Ireland went from 8 million to 4 million in those years due to effects of starvation and emigration. Starving men were put to work on ‘roads leading to nowhere’ or ‘meal roads’ as they were sometimes called.   The people were reduced to eating grass and nettles.  Children’s faces grew hair which is called ‘mirasmus’- a debilitating side effect of starvation. Food products such as wheat, corn and beef were shipped out to England in spite of the starving population. Some farmers at the time believed that the pooka (a mischievous fairy) demanded a share of every crop at the end of the harvest and a terrible fate awaited those who defied him.  Several strands of wheat, known as ‘the pooka’s share’ was left behind in the field to appease him.