The year is 1852 and The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, The Famine or The Irish Potato Famine, is ending.
We are in the Irish village of Carrick-on-Shannon, which is nestled in Northern-Central Ireland, in the county of Leitrim.
Many do not know that this “famine” was man-made, as English troops had confiscated Irish harvests to feed their own back in England starting in the 1840s. This was an outright genocide, but historians have chosen to ignore the facts.
But Paul ó Maoilriain knew the truth full well. As he had just turned 16 and was now an adult, he put the escape plans into motion he had been formulating and saving for since he was 12. He would be leaving the tyranny of English rule as soon as possible.
Paul was headed to America, and he knew he would need a wife to build a family and homestead with. He had heard terrible things about degenerate American women and so he decided to find a moral, god-fearing, Irish girl to marry and take with him.
He knew the exact qualities his fair maiden virginal bride must have and he had just the girl in mind.
Today in fact, he would ask the parents of Elizabeth ó Ceallaigh for her hand in marriage. She had two sisters, but Elizabeth was the one perfect for him. He had been praying everyday that she would accept his proposal and her parents would give their union their blessing.
They all had grown up knowing of each other, as their village was small and only had one church that they all attended.
At 2pm sharp, Paul ó Maoilriain knocked on the front door of the modest ó Ceallaigh farmhouse. He made sure he arrived promptly for their Sunday dinner invitation.
The family had 20 acres, horses, chicken, pigs, goats and 50 head of milk cows.
The door opened, and Mr. & Mrs. ó Ceallaigh both greeted him with a kiss on each cheek and loudly, in unison, said
“Welcome Master ó Maoilriain!”
“Thank you for having me.” He replied and handed Mrs. ó Ceallaigh the bouquet of hand picked flowers he held in his right hand.
“Let me find a vase and water for this lovely bunch!” bellowed Mrs. ó Ceallaigh.
Mr. ó Ceallaigh led Paul into the parlor where Elizabeth’s older sisters Rosamund, age 20, and Eliza, age 19, sat dressed in their Sunday best. He knew Paul’s plans and desire to be married before he left for America. Everyone in the village knew of Paul’s plans and every parent of an unmarried daughter had paraded that daughter in Paul’s direction for over a year now.
Rosamund and Eliza were beautiful, feminine and delicate. They had been coached by their parents to present themselves as such. They wore white gloves and strings of pearls. They were known as the prettiest girls in town by far.
Paul sat and made small talk.
“.... Yes, my parents are doing fine….”
“...What’s that? Yes, my brother Ezekiel is still working in Dublin.”
“... Yes, I have the money saved, for me and one other, for a passage to America and enough to get past the Mississippi River….”
“Where’s Elizabeth?” Paul blurted out.
Mr. and Mrs. ó Ceallaigh were confused.
Mrs. ó Ceallaigh: “Elizabeth is out milking the cows as she does every afternoon. She then has the hogs to slop.
What did you want with Elizabeth? Rosamund and Eliza have been looking so forward to seeing you today.”
Paul: “I am here to ask for her hand in marriage. Rosamund and Eliza, you are both incredibly beautiful and feminine, and if I was staying in this settled and tame part of Ireland, either of you would be perfect to start a family with. But I am going to America.”
All four of the ó Ceallaighs looked at each other slightly confused.
Paul: “Would you get Elizabeth?”
Mr. ó Ceallaigh got up and went out the back door. Shortly after he came back with 16 year old Elizabeth trailing behind. She was covered in mud and milk from her chest to her toes and she wore thigh high rubber boots.
Although she had quickly tried to clean them off, her hands, which were the size of mitts, were dirt brown, especially her palms and fingernails.
Elizabeth stood 6 feet 2 and her shoulders were slightly wider than Paul’s. She had to bend down to keep from hitting her head on the top of the doorway.
Elizabeth: “Paul, what is it I can do fer ya? Did you have a nice chat with me sisters? The whole family has taken bets on which one you were goin’ ta propose ta. But either one would be a great wife fer ya. They both promised me I could be their maid of honor.”
Paul knelt down and pulled a ring box from his breast pocket, opened it, and said.
“Elizabeth ó Ceallaigh, will you marry me and come with me to start a family in America?”
Feeling confused and embarrassed, she grabbed his hand holding the ring in hers, and her hands were so big his hand and the opened ring box disappeared.
She said “This is a cruel joke you’re playin’ Paul ó Maoilriain. One I will never forgive you fer.”
Elizabeth looked at her parents and sisters whose mouths were all agape in shock. Her parents had told her to stay in the barn and out of sight while the proposal was being made to one of her sisters.
Mrs. ó Ceallaigh said. “Paul, can we speak to you in the other room?”
Paul: “That won’t be necessary. America is a tough place. I need a woman who can stand by my side and have the emotional, spiritual and physical strength to face what may come our way. What if I fall off my horse and break my leg? How will I get back on my horse or my wagon? What if our homestead burns down? Who will help me chop and gather wood to rebuild? Look at Elizabeth’s hips! She is built to be a mother many times over. We will have a brood!
Rosamund and Eliza, you are lovely, but look at your hands, smooth, delicate and supple. You both can’t weigh more than seven stone and your hips are as narrow as a schoolboy’s.
You wouldn’t last a day of hardship. You will be more work than help.
I will need strong children as well. Elizabeth is the perfect woman to be my wife and to bear my children.
Elizabeth, There is no jest in my words. I am the most serious man you will ever meet. I want to marry and love, honor and protect you the rest of our lives. Will you let me?”
With that Elizabeth bearhugged Paul, easily lifting him off the ground and kissed him firmly and squarely on the forehead.
She screamed. “I DO! I MEAN I WILL!”
She had two maids of honor.
They lived happily ever after (Paul and Elizabeth, not Rosamund and Eliza).
(In America)
(On a homestead)
(West of the Mississippi)
