Could you eat 14 lbs of potatoes a day?

 Between 1841 and 1901 Ireland lost six million people. The population was cut in half. People had been emigrating prior to the famine, but that crisis opened the flood gates. 

My great grandpa John was born in Waterford Ireland to Phillip and Catherine  on the eve of the famine in 1844. He emigrated when he was 25 years old. So he left in 1869. He was part of the great immigration from Ireland to the U.S.

In 1845 half of the potato crop was destroyed by blight, a type of fungus. People managed to survive that year. When it came back the following year people started to starve to death.

For most of the Irish people potatoes were the daily diet. They were easy to grow and plentiful in the climate. The way Ireland was set up with the English owning most of the land and renting it to the Irish, it was all they could afford. So when the crop failed they were in serious trouble.

With little help from the English government they began to die of starvation and disease. They couldn’t pay rent so they were evicted by the thousands. 

0ne million people died during the famine. One million people left Ireland during the famine. After the famine and potato blight ended, people kept leaving leaving by the hundreds of thousands til half the population was gone, among them my great granddad John. He settled in Minnesota, married and had 10 children, among them my grandpa Joe. 

Grandpa Joe had eleven children, among them my father Bill. Can you tell they were Irish Catholics? 

The average Irish man ate 14 pounds of potatoes a day prior to the famine. Seems like a lot of potatoes doesnt it? It isn’t if you divide into 3 meals a day.  That’s 4.6 pounds of potatoes a meal or maybe 5-6 potatoes a meal.

It’s cold in Manchester for this slow traveller

 I could live in Manchester. It is like a very big city but in a smaller package. It has everything London has but not so much of it. It’s so much less hectic and frantic. 

It has a very extensive public transport system with the trams, albeit very slow.  Easy to reach rest of UK from here with 3-4 rail stations in the central part. Lots of culture, music, arts. Lots of diversity. History. 

It would be cool to live in one of their many high rise buildings. The only drawback I can see is weather. (This coming from someone who lives where there is 6 months of snow and cold). 

I think Manchester has maybe two months of summer where it gets to maybe 68.  Rest of months range 44-62 degrees. They get more rain than most UK cities.  Cold and damp winters? No.  I guess you get used to it. What is worse 10 inches of snow and -15 or cold and damp winters. It’s a toss up. They typically get 2.8 inches of snow in winter.  (See photo) The UK doesn’t seem to have clear days. It’s a lots of clouds, then partly cloudy periods.

I’m looking forward to exploring more of this fascination’ city!

View from Manchester Deansgate tower

 Lots of people out today. Tram was full with people standing. 

Went down to central Manchester. The tram’s slowness and many stops let’s you see different areas. Manchester is a city of rivers. They meander through the city. A lot of neighborhoods are named so and so key. 

In the 2000’s the city decided to develop an isolated area with nothing on it. They decided it was a place that skyscrapers could be built. It was named Deansgate Square.

Four very tall residential buildings were put up. They range from 460 to 659 ft tall. The tallest building has 62 floors. That is the tallest building in Manchester. Imagine living on the 62nd floor!

Here is a picture of the towers and a view of Manchester from the tallest one. Obviously view is not my picture.