Flight from Famine Trip for Primary 7

Today the Primary Sevens enjoyed a visit to The Ulster American Folk Park. This visit brought their learning of The Irish Famine to life. After visiting a single room cabin, the children had a richer understanding of the very basic living conditions that the majority of Irish families had in Ireland during the 1800s.

The children also got the opportunity to experience the pungent smell that would have lingered in the air in the summer of 1845, signalling that the potato blight had arrived.

Emigrating to America was a last hope for some. In the school house the children looked at the various facts about different people considering emigrating. The pupils then decided who were the best 'folk' to make the journey to America to find work and begin a better life.

As the children boarded the 'Big Union' ship, they soon realised just how horrific the conditions onboard would have been for those that made this 6-8 week journey.

A visit to the forge and the Mellon homeplace completed our tour.

It really was a great day and the children thoroughly enjoyed learning about this important part of our history.

Enjoy the video.

Mrs Gormley & Miss McGurk