the town in 1841, many of whom were also affected. Up to this time, Mountmellick had been an extensive manufacturing town, but as the famine took grip, employment plummeted and money became very scarce. Food prices increased by 300%. People caught in a poverty trap became hungry and destitute. Diseases such as typhus and cholera appeared and more people in Mountmellick died from a fever epidemic at the time than from the famine itself. Aid relief was sent from various parts of the world to help the starving Irish. The Quakers were among the most active in famine relief initiatives and they opened soup kitchens throughout the country. The Poor Law Union built a workhouse in Mountmellick in 1839. The workhouse was situated on the site where St. Vincent's Hospital now stands. It was built to feed and accommodate 800 paupers, but at the height of famine in 1847 (known as "Black '47") there were 1,500 people there. To deter people, the workhouses were designed to be as unattractive as possible. Husbands, wives and children were separated on entry and often never saw each other again. Mass burial sites were dug to bury the victims. A cart of famine victims was brought daily from the workhouse to pit graves in the townland of Derryguile, one mile outside Mountmellick. A field, now known as "Reilig" (the Irish language word for grave) in the townland of Graigue is also known to have been a famine burial site. Famous families who left during this time, or earlier, during the late 17th century, included the Newlins (who went to Chester County, Pennsylvania), Pims, Bewleys, and Dennys. Many of the earlier Quakers emigrated from Mountmellick to Pennsylvania. Mountmellick lace According to tradition, in 1825 a Quaker named Joanna Carter introduced what later became known as Mountmellick embroidery. The first known sale of this type of lacework was to the Earl of Dunraven (Lord Adare) of Limerick in 1847. Although Carter is credited with its introduction little is known about her. It has been traditionally assumed that she had been a Quaker. However, an educational report of 1824 describes her as a Protestant, which may have meant that she belonged to the Church of Ireland. She ran a small school in a thatched house and had 15 girls, eight of whom were members of the Church of Ireland and seven Catholics. Her annual income was £9