Famine echoes

by Cathal Póirtéir

In the 1940s, the Folklore Commission conducted interviews with thousands of elderly people around Ireland who remembered what they themselves had heard from ancestors who had survived the Famine. Cathal Poirteir has edited a selection of these recollections, arranging the material in an order which follows the rough chronology of the Famine itself. This remarkable book, dealing as it does with the oral transmission of folk memory, is a record of the last living link with the survivors of that terrible event.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Ireland

301 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

Reviews

[colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

The book was fascinating I couldn’t put it down. I feel like I understand my ancestors history better now. It was heartbreaking what happened to these people and what a miracle to have ancestors that survived passage to America during that time!

[Damien McAuley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great insight

I really enjoyed reading this book. It educated me further on An Gorta Mor. Through the words and imagery, I was transported to the Bad Times. R.I.P.

[Helen Holden]

Sad stories but true of what the famine was like.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive

Although invaluable resurce I'm afraid if got very boring. Not to be read like a history or novel. Good human side of story

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The folklore commission genuinely was one of the best ideas the State has produced.

[Padraic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mined from the Irish Historical Commissions oral histories. The sound of the memory of the recollection of the story of the sound of famine.

[Martin Sharry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be on the leaving cert