1 (Chapter 1) What did Fiona get as a present from the landlord, Mr O'Brien?
2 (Chapter 3) Why did Mr O'Brien send the four children to the workhouse?
3 (Chapter 8) What happened to Mr O'Brien and where did he have to go?
4 (Chapter 13) Who bought the farm after it had been abandoned by Mr O'Brien?
5 (Chapter 13) How much was the rent asked for by the new landlord?
Draw...!
Draw a picture of a map of America.
Fact File
Landlords in Ireland in the nineteenth century owned huge amounts of land. One landlord in County Clare owned 27,000 acres of land. These landlords were very wealthy and most of them cared nothing for the poor people who lived on the land. Rents in Ireland were higher than anywhere else in Europe. However, some landlords were good and helped the starving people as much as they could. Many of these landlords beggared themselves and had to leave their land.
Explore...!
Look at a map of the world. Try to decide what part of America Mr O'Brien might have gone to. He lived in County Clare - where would his ship have set out from?
Imagine......!
Imagine Mr O'Brien arrives in America and tells a friend all about what is happening in Ireland and the sad story of the McMahon family. Write down what he says.
Imagine that you are a good landlord, write down a list of things that you could do to help the poor people on your farms.
