Hunger

Programme Outline

The story is based on the acclaimed novel by Marita Conlon-McKenna. It is set in the middle of the nineteenth century. The potato crop has failed and famine stalks the land. Three children, Eily, Michael and Peggy O’Driscoll, are left to fend for themselves when they are separated from their parents. In desperation they set out on a perilous journey in search of their great-aunts, who are their last resort. The journey is full of adventure and danger but eventually the children reach their goal. The film is in four episodes.

Episode 1: Hunger (corresponds to pages 1 - 26 of the book)
The three main characters are introduced at a point where famine is becoming widespread due to the failure of the potato crop. Their parents, Margaret and John, work on a small plot of land, but when the potatoes are destroyed by blight John goes to seek work on a government relief scheme. We meet Mary Kate, a wise woman with healing powers, but even she cannot save their baby sister Bridget, who dies of fever at the end of the first episode.