1. Justin Powell
MAT 601
Angela’s Ashes Webquest
Process
This activity is completed by visiting different sites to gather bits of information and
compile a list. You will use the list to make comparisons to your life/experiences in the
modern day. Hand-outs to organize your information have been provided.
You will learn additional information about:
A. Irish History
B. Irish Customs/Traditions
C. Health
D. Cities of Angela's Ashes
E. Geography and Climate
F. Economy during the Depression in USA and Ireland
1) What does all that unusual language mean?
http://www.gradesaver.com/angelas-ashes/study-guide/glossary-of-terms/
Define: Barracks, boreen, confraternity, dinner can, consumption, dole, omahduan
Jail, small country road, religious group, lunch pail, tuberculosis, welfare, fool
2) Frank's family ate rashers as special luxury. What is a rasher?
http://www.yourdictionary.com/rasher
a thin slice of bacon or, rarely, ham, for frying or broiling
3) What became of the McCourt family?
http://www.limerick.com/angelasashes/angelasashesinterviews1.html
Frank and Malachy’s stories were turned into a Broadway play.
Frank died in 2009.Angela in 1981, the dad in 1986.
4) How do you get around Ireland?
http://wikitravel.org/en/Ireland
car, taxi, train, bus, motorhome, tram, boat, bicycle
5) What is the climate of Ireland?How is climate different throughout the country
of Ireland?
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/geography/climate.html

2. Justin Powell
MAT 601
Ireland enjoys a temperate maritime climate. Typical winter weather in Ireland is clouds
and rain with the occasional sunny spell. Typically, summers in Ireland have warm, sunny
weather and a sky dotted with gentle fluffy clouds.
In terms of temperature, it is again the south that enjoys the warmest weather. While the
north coast is cooler than the south, the coolest areas are the inland areas which are away
from the warm waters of the ocean.
6) What happens at a traditional Irish Wake?
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlcar2/An_Irish_Wake.htm
1. Neighbouring women experienced in laying out the body gather at the house of the
diseased.
2. The body is washed.
3. A habit is put on the body.
4. A bed is prepared for the body.
5. If the body is of a man - he has to be clean shaven before the habit is put on.
6. A crucifix is placed on the breast and rosary beads are put in the fingers.
7. Sheets are hung over the bed and along two or three sides.
8. Candles are lighted in candlesticks near the remains.
7) What do the streets of Angela's Ashes look like?
http://www.limerick.com/angelasashes/angelasashesstreets.html
http://www.google.com Bowman Street
(See picture, describe)
8) How was NYC in the 30s?
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/b?ammem/fsaall:LC-USF33-006714-
M1:collection=fsa
(See pictures)
9) What was happening economically in Ireland in the 1930s?
http://www.muckross-house.ie/library_files/ireland_in_the_30s.htm
Pasture was dominant, while the cultivation of grain continued to fall as it had since the
Great Famine of the 1840s. Just over a million acres of grain crops were grown in 1921, this
had fallen to just over 750,000 acres by 1931. In January 1930, the Honorary Secretary of
the Irish Grain Growers Association appealed to Irish farmers to maintain at least the 1929
acreage of grain crops. The American economy had collapsed in 1929 and was succeeded
by a worldwide depression. Irish farmers had received a poor return for their 192 9 crop.
Indeed, in many cases, they had found it difficult to secure a market for it.
10) How was the American lifestyle in the 1930s?
http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade30.html
FACTS about this decade.
Population: 123,188,000 in 48 states
Life Expectancy: Male, 58.1; Female, 61.6

3. Justin Powell
MAT 601
Average salary: $1,368
Unemployment rises to 25%
Huey Long propses a guaranteed annual income of $2,500
Car Sales: 2,787,400
Food Prices: Milk, 14 cents a qt.; Bread, 9 cents a loaf; Round Steak, 42 cents a pound
11) Frank is hospitalized with Typhoid Fever; what is that disease like?
http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/typhoid_fever/fact_sheet.htm
Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection of the intestinal tract and occasionally the
bloodstream. Symptoms may be mild or severe and may include fever, headache,
constipation or diarrhea, rose-colored spots on the trunk and an enlarged spleen and liver.
Relapses are common.
12) What is Consumption?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body. The
classic symptoms are a chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, fever, night sweats,
and weight loss.
13) What are the effects of starvation?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation
Starvation is a severe reduction in vitamin, nutrient and energy intake. It is the most
extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause
permanent organ damage and eventually, death.
14) Who was EamonDeValera?
http://www.ireland-information.com/articles/eamondevalera.htm
EamonDeValera was one of the most important figures in the history of Ireland. His
relationship with the people of the country was often strained and his attitude and motives
have frequently puzzled historians throughout this century. The fact remains however, that
without his involvement in the Irish Nationalist movement the course of Irish history
would have been radically different.
15) Who was RoddyMcCorley?
http://www.associatepublisher.com/e/r/ro/roddy_mccorley.htm
RoddyMcCorley was the son of a miller, and himself a local leader in Duneane,County
Antrim, during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. A young Presbyterian radical, he and his family
had been evicted from their farm before the rebellion due to the death of his father. After
the rebellion he went into hiding for almost a year but was betrayed, captured by British
soldiers and court-martialled in Ballymena. He was executed on Good Friday 1799.
16) Who was Cuchulainn? Was he a real person?
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/narrative-notes/cuchulainn/index.xml

4. Justin Powell
MAT 601
Cuchulainn is a key character in Irish mythology. Legend has it that he was born in the
North of Ireland at EamainMacha. EmainMacha, situated in what is today, Co. Armagh, was
the site of the Royal house of Ulster and appeared in a second century map by Potelemy.
Cuchulainn was originally called Setanta, but got the name Cuchulainn after he killed the
hound of Culan. In the tails he is said to have had a fierce temper and was a mighty warrior.
In one story it is described that three vats of ice cold water were required to cool down his
temperature. For part of his training as a warrior he went to Scotland and later returned to
Ireland. There he defended the Brown Bull of Ulster from Queen Meabh of Connaught. This
part of mythology is known as An Táin.
17) What does the title, Angela's Ashes, mean?
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/angelasashes/themes.html
Angela’s Ashes takes its name from the ashes which fall from Angela’s cigarettes and those
in the fireplace at which she stares blankly. The entire setting of the narrative feels draped
in ash—dark, decrepit, weak, lifeless, sunless. Angela’s ashes represent her crumbling
hopes: her dreams of raising a healthy family with a supportive husband have withered and
collapsed, leaving her with only cigarettes for comfort and the smoldering ashes of a fire for
warmth.