(i) What types of sources are Source A, B and C? Copy the box below in your copies and please tick (3) your answers.
Source
Source A Source B Source C
(ii) Give one strength and one weakness of a private letter such as Source A as a source of evidence about the past.
(iii) Give one strength and one weakness of an illustration such as Source B as a source of evidence about the past.
(iv) Give one strength and one weakness of a replica of a mud cabin such as Source C as a source of evidence about the past.
(v) In what ways does Source A help us to understand more about how emigration to America affected people in Ireland? Explain your answer.
(vi) What can we learn from Source B about the impact of the Great Famine on children?
(vii) Based on evidence that you have studied, describe how the famine affected the kind of people who lived in homes such as shown in Source C.
(Adapted from NCCA JC History Assessment Items) Primary Secondary Written Visual Aural Oral Tactile
2. Exam Question
Examine this photograph of a sculpture on Dublin’s Custom House Quay. The bronze figures represent famine emigrants walking toward the docks to board ships to take them overseas. The sculpture was made in 1997 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Great Famine.
(a) The sculpture, ‘Famine’, was made by Rowan Gillespie. How did Rowan Gillespie convey the idea of famine in his sculpture?
(b) What are two types of sources that could be used to research the appearance of Irish people during the famine in the 1840s?
(c) What is meant by the term ‘commemoration’? (d) It is now 170 years since the famine ended. Why is the famine still commemorated? (e) Give two reasons why Irish emigration rates remained high after the famine ended.