The Great Irish Potato Famine - 5 minute Freewrite

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For those of you not familiar with the freewrite, you basically have 5 minutes to write a story, beginning to end. Then post it to your page. I went over the 5 minutes today, as I wanted to finish what I had to say.

Below is my attempt to tell a story in 5 minutes using the prompt "Potatoes"

Thanks to @mariannewest as always for the wonderful job she does in keeping this going every day!

The prompt post can be found here

Why not give it a go yourself!!

Potatoes are synonymous with my home country of Ireland. We love our spuds!! And well we might, as for years and years Ireland was a very poor country and our staple diet was the potato - this was especially true for the poorest people of my country.

The Potato was afflicted with a terrible disease called blight in 1845, and for a period of about five years the potato crop struggled against this affliction. The blight made the potatoes turn black and were then inedible. The Irish population shed 2 million people during this awful time. One million died in the fields and an other million made a lucky escape overseas, many to America, which has a huge Irish diaspora today. I read recently that 10% of Americans can trace their ancestry to Ireland, quite incredible.

But one million people died!

Think of an average football stadium of 40000 capacity and fill it 25 times over... And the same number again boarded ships to America, living their meager possessions behind them and tried to forge out a new life in America. That was only possible for the lucky ones who made it across the Atlantic. The ships they traveled in were known as coffin ships for good reason. They were overcrowded and often over-insured, and were actually worth more to the owners if they didn't reach the other side - sad but true.. Food and water was severely rationed, and disease was rife. The journey could take anything up to 2 or 3 months depending on the time of year.

The rulers of Ireland at the time felt it not right to give starving people food for free, so people were made to work at workhouses and often undertook pointless jobs, like building roads to nowhere in return for meager supplies of food. It was an awful time for Ireland, but one we must remember. If you are Irish, or of Irish decent, just remember, it is quite likely one of your ancestors endured much hardship and pain to allow you to be here today, so remember that the next time you get frustrated over the little things.

It is great to be alive!

We must embrace life!

Don't ever give up on anything. Failure is only when we stop trying.