Aideen's Diary

March 15 1845

Things here in Ireland are going from bad to worst. It hasnt rained in alot of time and we are barely getting any food. The food that we get we give to my younger sister becuase she is the one that suffers the most. My little sister is called Aine and she always asking where is father and why is she the only one eating. Although we explain it to her she doesnt get it, shes just a kid. Today my dad brought us the last potatoes. Daddy told us that the potatoes are growing rotten and with bacteria and that those would be the last potatoes we ever ate. At night, I heard mom and dad talking and i wondered what was it about. I stayed there a while and managed to understand the situation, we were gonna starve to death becuase no crops were growing. I was terrfied but i knew i had to help my family and keep my mouth shut.

March 16 1845

Today i left house for a walk and i heard many people talking about the potato famine. I saw a friend of mine and went to talk to her. Caitlin asked me if i knew anything about the potato disaster going on. I told her that i had received the news and she told me that she was leaving to the new world. The new world? I asked. Whats that? I felt so confused. Caitlin told me that the new world was in America and that the living conditions were way better in there and there was no hunger going on. She kept talking about it and it sounded like paradise.....I definitely wanted to go there. When i arrived home i talked to mother about it and she told me that we had no money to leave to the New World. All my hopes failed.

October 2 1845

Well a lot of time has passed since i last wrote on this diary but a lot has changed. The crops are barely growing but i managed a plan. My family and i have been raising money to leave to America. Not many people around have been able to leave Ireland but some have. My dad has sacrificed alot so we can have enough money to leave. Theres only one problem and that is that daddy has raised enough money for three. That will cover up my moms ticket, my sisters ticket, and probably mines. Daddy would have to leave later on and i dont know what well do without him. Im gonna miss him so much and im scared that he wont be able to come with us. Well we are going to start packing so we can enter the New World. By the way we leave in a week.

November 1, 1845

Dad stayed back home and we have been in this boat for almost three weeks. It is very crowded in here and there are families and children. The food aint that good but at least we get to eat something. Aine keeps crying because she is bored and has no toys, sometimes i play with her and she feels better. This allows mom to rest for a while becuase she looks very tired. I cant wait to get off this ship and see America. I really dont know how things will be but expect them to be marvelous and the trip to soon be over. I miss dad alot and i hope to see him soon. Everything will be back to normal when we are together.

November 28, 1845

We have arrived at Elis Island. Supposedly we have to stay here for a few days until they accept us in America. The officers at the door separated us into categories. Women are in one side of the building, men on the other and children in the other area. Mom got separated and Aine and me are together. I have been taking care of her and im so tired. Know i understand mother. The living conditions in here are horrible, we have little space, and almost no food. I cant wait to get out of here. I will play with Aine and write later.

December 12, 1845


Today an officer called us for the interview and questions were asked to us for about 3 hours. They asked me questions that i didnt know. Im just a child. They asked me where was i going, where was i going to live, how much money did i have and where was i going to work? I felt useless because i could not answer any of those questions. The good news is that mom passed the interview and we are going to America!!!
Im so excited!

December 14, 1845

We arrived at a big city called New York. Mom took us to a one room apartment where we managed to settle down with a few stuff we brought from Ireland. The place is so small but at least mom and Aine are happy. Mom misses dad alot and so do we. I cant wait to see him. We are going to start settling down now!

January 6, 1846

We have settled down and everything is working perfect. Mom aint earning much money but is way better than what we used to. I know go to school where im learning my english and Aine goes to a child care for Irish babies. Its amazing. It is hard to make friends though but i know i will manage it. Today is going to be the best day of my life because daddy is coming!
We have prepared everything so he would be happy. Mom has been saving money to prepare him a delicious meal and we will have a family night.

Dad arrived! Mom and i cried alot when we saw him and Aine was jumping up and down. He told us about his trip and we told him about what was going on in here. He told us that he was going to look for work tomorrow and that more money would be in the family. Mom felt so relieved. I feel like im complete again. The family is united and our better life starts here!