WILDFLOWER GIRL ISBN 978-0-86278-283-2

eBook ISBN 978-1-84717-601-1

MARITA CONLON-McKENNA

Teaching Guide
By Irene Barber

R AT I O NA L E A N D T H E ME S
tough with poor wages, long hours, hard (now Cobh) in the company of a
Wildflower Girl is the second book in Marita work and little respect. But Peggy is a neighbours family, the Molloys. Here
Conlon-McKennas famine trilogy. It is a survivor and her hard work, courage, she is issued with a ticket to travel
sequel to Under the Hawthorn Tree, which loyalty and resilience impress those steerage on the Fortunata to Boston.
tells the story of the ODriscoll childrens around her as she grows in confidence
journey through nineteenth-century and wisdom. It is an optimistic and Read pp.943.
famine-torn Ireland to find their great-aunts. happy Peggy we leave on the final pages DISCUSSION POINTS
Wildflower Girl traces the fortunes of Peggy of the book. Originally Eily decided that no one of
ODriscoll, now aged thirteen, as she leaves the family was going to America. What
Ireland and makes her way to America. AP PR O A CH changed her mind?
Wildflower Girl won the CBI/Bisto Book of the
For the purposes of this exploration, the From what you have read about Peggy
Year, 1992, in the Historical Novel Category.
novel is divided into five units. Each unit is so far do you think she will do well in
It is suitable for use with senior classes in
approximately thirty pages long. Possible America? What kind of a person is she?
primary schools and with junior classes in
discussion points and activities are listed at What kind of person is likely to succeed
second-level schools. It facilitates exploration
the end of each unit. Two useful addresses in a new and alien environment?
of the following themes:
on emigration from Ireland are: In 1992, an American academic, Dr
Emigration from Ireland to America
1. Cobh Heritage Centre, Cobh, Co. Marjorie Hancock, initiated a study of
Independence and responsibility
Cork, Tel: +353 (21) 813591 (www.cobh Iri sh an d Am eri ca n ch i l d ren s
Journey
heritage.com) resp o n ses to M ari t a Co n lo n -
Conflict McKennas Under the Hawthorn Tree
2 . Ulst e r A me r i ca n F olk P a r k,
Exile and loneliness and Wildflower Girl. The Irish pupils
Castletown, Omagh, County Tyrone BT78
Exploitation and racial discrimination response to Peggy leaving Ireland was
5QY. T el: 048 82 240918 (www.
Courage and resilience folkpark.com) very intense many expressed deep
Economic migrants commitment to their homeland and
feelings of guilt and real sadness at the
thought of leaving. However most
SU M M AR Y UNIT 1
American pupils expressed no doubt
FAREWELL about leaving starvation and death
Peggy ODriscoll, aged thirteen, sees no
behind (Childrens Books in Ireland,
future for herself in the impoverished
SU M M AR Y 1995)! How do you explain the
post-famine Ireland of the nineteenth
differing responses from the different
century. With her passage paid by the
An offer of a passage to America arrives nationalities?
landlord, she leaves her sister and
to the ODriscoll house a godsend in What might be the significance of the
brother and her beloved great-aunt and
times of economic ruin. But how can gifts Peggy received from her family:
sets out on a huge adventure to seek her
the three young people go and leave the Bible, the horsehair bracelet, the
fortune in America. After a distressing sea
t he i r a ging gre a t - au nt N a no? purse of money, the shawl?
voyage from Queenstown to Boston she
Circumstances change when Eily, the
secures employment as a skivvy in a
eldest, accepts a proposal of marriage A CT IV I T IE S
mens boarding house run by the
and Michael gets a suitable job offer.
disrep uta ble Mrs Cavendish. In
That leaves Peggy, the youngest, who 1. ANGER
desperation Peggy runs away and with
despite opposition, is determined to go
the help of fellow expatriates secures What provoked Eilys anger to the extent
to America alone. Having said her
other more suitable employment. Life is that she slapped Peggy across the face?
goodbyes, she heads for Queenstown

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What was Peggys response? What UNIT 2 List at least five questions which might
happened next? Write about an occasion have been asked. (A volunteer could role
when you were so angry that you hit out (or THE LONG VOYAGE play the captain in the hot seat attempting
really felt like hitting out) at someone. How to answer a selection of these questions).
did they respond? Was the situation SU M M AR Y
resolved? What would have happened if 3. PREDICTION
you had chosen to hide your anger? Peggy sets sail for America on board the Pretend Peggy was deemed too ill to travel
Looking back, was it a good or bad thing to Fortunata in the company of the Molloy on to Boston and was sent to Deer Island.
show your anger? family. After five stinking rotten smelly Describe her journey to the island and her
disgusting weeks they arrived at first impressions of the hospital
2. REFUGE Boston. Officials from the Boston Port
Peggy had a favourite place to where she Authority dispatch the Molloy family to 4. WORD STUDY
ran when she was troubled the bridge. a hospital on Deer Island. Peggy is Put these words in alphabetical order and
Write about where you go when you want deemed healthy enough to land in write their dictionary meanings:
peace and quiet to work things out. America. Peggy disembarks, hoping provisions, steerage, ship-shape, slops,
that she will never have to endure such mast, barnacles, pulleys, gangplank.
3. BRIDGES a journey ever again. Which word is not a noun?
Marita Conlon-McKenna uses the bridge Try to write a coherent paragraph that
as a device to link: Read pp.4471.
includes all the words!
DISCUSSION POINTS
(1) the old with the new
Describe the conditions that made the
(2) the town with the country journey so miserable for passengers.
Why did they not complain? UNIT 3
Read pp.1112 and try to explain how she
uses this device. Why were the women so bitter about SKIVVY
the major clean-up of steerage which
4. KEEPING UP APPEARANCES! was organised before entering Boston S U M MA R Y
Why was it so important to Nano that she harbour?
should be seen at her best when Billy Kelly, Should Peggy have said she was with Peggy meets Mr Molloy and gives him
the landlord, called? What did she do in the Molloy family and accompanied news of his family. Then she and her
order to impress him? Write an account of them to Deer Island to help out with friend Sarah make contact with Mrs
the meeting from the landlords point of the children? Halligan, landlady and proprietor of the
view (see pp.1720). Try to convey the fact The wooden deck was polished and Shamrock Agency for the Employment
that he is sympathetic and sensitive to shone but the under-side of the ship of Young Ladies. Mrs Halligan gives the
N anos proble m but tha t his own was covered with gray barnacles and girls food, rest and a chance to clean up
economic circumstances are dictating his slimy green seaweed! (p.45). Here we before finding employment for them.
actions. get a hint that things may not be as they Peggy gets a job with Mags Cavendish
seem on first impressions. How is this who runs a boarding house for men.
5. WILDFLOWER GIRL theme of false impressions, being Conditions are squalid and the drunken
With the help of an appropriate source, created by the captain, developed as bullying behaviour of the landlady is too
sketch a cowslip, buttercup, bluebell, this unit progresses? much for Peggy. She runs away back to
ragged robin and cow parsley. Redesign Margaret Halligan who surprisingly
the book cover using some or all of your ACT I VI T IE S sho ws he r gr e a t ki ndn e ss a nd
flower sketches. u nde r st a ndi ng. Pe ggy s ne xt
1. LETTER WRITING employment is with the Rowan family,
6. COBH HERITAGE CENTRE Have Peggy write to Eily, her older sister, in a fine house outside the city. Things
describing honestly the terrible conditions are looking up for Peggy.
Peggy left Ireland from Queenstown (now
Cobh). Look up the website of Cobh on board the Fortunata. Describe in detail
Heritage Centre (www.cobhheritage.com) what might have caused the most Read pp.72103.
and answer these questions: discomfort to Peggy: the seasickness, the DISCUSSION POINTS
storm, the lack of privacy, the attitude of Do you think Mags Halligan was a
(a) Two and half million people left
the captain, the suffering of the Molloy good person? How did she make a
Ireland from Cobh between 18481950.
family, the apprehension about what living?
What conditions caused so many to leave?
would happen when they reached Why was Mona Cavendish so angry
(b) What is the e-wall at Cobh Heritage America, and so on. with Peggy? Was Peggy right to leave in
Centre? such a hurry?
(c) Find out five facts about Annie Moore. 2. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS When Mrs OConnor, the cook of
The captain ordered a major clean up of Rushton, said Got to look after my
steerage and then disappeared up on deck own! what did she mean?
before a hundred questions could be asked.

2
 AC T IV IT I E S UNIT 4 cat eg o rie s ab o v e th e l o we st
occupational category. As time went
1. SKIVVY WILDFLOWER GIRL by, Irish immigrants moved west, so
Write a sense poem entitled Skivvy about that by 1910 there were more Irish
Peggys stay with Mrs Cavendish. Begin
SU M M AR Y immigrants in Chicago than in Boston.
each line like this: In Wildflower Girl can you find
Peggy settles in to domestic service with evidence of:
I see ......... the Rowan family. Life is hard but she (i) upward mobility among the
I hear......... makes friends with Kitty, another maid, Irish immigrants
I smell......... and undertakes to teach her to read and (ii) a move from the east coast to
write. With her first pay packet she visits the west
I feel...... Boston and makes contact with her
I taste........ friend Sarah. She gets on the wrong side A CT IV I T IE S
I think....... of Roxanne, the spoiled teenage
daughter of the house. Roxanne falsely 1. EXPECTATIONS
Now re-write, omitting I see, I hear etc. accuses Peggy of stealing a ring. While
from the beginning of each line. Improve Why was Peggy so depressed to hear Mrs
Peggy is under suspicion, the rest of the
on your choice of words. Consider rhyme, OConnor say that work in the kitchen was
staff treat her with coolness.
alliteration, line length, shape on the page the highest she and her likes could aspire
and produce final draft. to? Do you think Peggys generation had
Read pp.104138. higher expectations than Mrs OConnor
2. A PREVIOUS LIFE DISCUSSION POINTS had? Why? Write about how your
The Trade Union Movement was well expectations of life might differ from those
If you dont cry, it will break your heart established in America by the end of
(p.93). What did Mags Halligan mean by of your parents or guardians when they
the nineteenth century. Workers were your age discuss it with them.
this? Do you agree? She said: We all miss b an d ed t o ge th er to f i gh t f o r
our homes and the ones we love. Where, improvements in their working 2. FIRST IMPRESSIONS LAST
do you think, was her home? Who were conditions and in their pay. They used
the ones she loved? Why is she not with When Peggy flicked water at Kitty, her
strikes to force employers to agree to
them? natural friendly fun-loving character
their demands. What aspects of
showed through despite the hardship, and
Invent a life for her before Peggy met her. Peggys conditions of employment at
Kitty warmed to her immediately. Try to
Discuss it with a friend. Write Mags the Rowans have been improved on by
remember your first impressions of
Halligans life story so far. trade union negotiations over the
someone with whom you have since
years? Visit the American Irish
become friendly and write them down.
3. PREDICTION H i sto ri ca l So ci ety w eb si te
What did you deduce about them from
So far we have met the following people in (www.aihs.org) to find out how Irish
that first contact? Were your deductions
the Rowan household: emigrants contributed to the Labour
accurate?
movement in America.
Mrs Madden, the housekeeper
When Roxanne said Those Irish! what 3. GOING WEST
Mrs Elizabeth Rowan, the mistress of insult did she intend? What is so unfair
the house Many European emigrants left the east
about a comment such as Those
coast of America and headed west to
Mrs OConnor, the cook refugees or Those Travellers! What
places like California. Norah Owens,
stereotypes might the speakers be
Kitty, the maid Peggys predecessor, was one of these.
implying?
Predict what will happen next. Will Peggy Write a page of Norah Owens diary as she
The image of Peggy as the Wildflower
be happy? Who will be her friends? Who journeyed west from Boston.
Girl is first introduced on pp.3435 in
will make life difficult for her? How? Will the first unit. It is repeated here in this
she stay? Write a summary of your ideas.
4. WHO IS IT?
unit in Chapter 6. What does this
Name the person described in each of
image tell us about Peggy? What does
4. WANTED: CAPABLE GIRL these extracts:
its repetition here add to the novel?
Write the advertisement for a kitchen maid The Irish who emigrated to America in (i) a right little minx (R)
that Mrs Elizabeth Rowan might have such large numbers after the Famine (ii) some kind of banker (Mr R)
placed in the Greenbay Times. started at the bottom economically and
(iii) her skin was clear without blemish or
Write the letter of application that Peggy worked their way up. Typically they
freckle (Mrs R)
might have written in response to the began as labourers and domestics and
advertisement. the men worked their way up to skilled (iv) her face was pale with deep purple
and semi-skilled craftsmen, policemen shadows under her eyes (S)
and firemen. The women were less (v) She had almost silver-blond hair
upwardly mobile. By 1880 more than which she wore... around her face (R)
half of the Irish born in Boston were in
(vi) years of standing over saucepans and

3
pots seemed to have boiled her skin to a A CT IV I T IE S
lusty pink (Mrs OC) t hi ngs a nd is r e p la c e d by th e
mean-spirited officious Miss Lewis. Her 1. PERSONALITY PROFILE
(vii) his skin had a healthy glow and his high-handed ways cause mutiny among
usually neat fair hair was all askew (S) In this unit two significant people comment
the staff and Peggy is instrumental in
favourably on Peggy: Mrs Madden (p.146)
What conclusions can be drawn from getting rid of her. A period of harmony
and Mrs OConnor (p.171). Check out
these descriptions? How did a persons follows where Peggy begins to feel more
these references and list adjectives that
lifestyle affect their appearance? in charge of her destiny and where she
these two women might have ascribed to
looks to the future with optimism and
5. THIEF? her. In the centre of a page, draw a picture
renewed energy.
of Peggy. Around it, write the adjectives that
In this unit Roxanne made two accusations
describe her. Add more of your own.
against Peggy. What were they? Why, do Read pp.139173.
you think, did Roxanne take such a dislike DISCUSSION POINTS 2. GETTING EVEN
to Peggy? Do you think Roxanne had In this unit Peggy begins to assert
Peggy managed to get even with two
previously picked on Kitty Murphy or on herself, firstly in the face of Roxannes
people who bullied her: Roxanne and Miss
Norah Owens? Give reasons. racist comments about two stupid
Lewis. Describe how she did so, without
Bridgets from the bogs and secondly
putting her job in jeopardy.
in the face of Miss Lewis high-handed
UNIT 5 t reat me nt of th e s ta f f . T h is
3. PREDICTION
assertiveness is not apparent in Kittys
MUTINY behaviour. Can you think of reasons Bearing in mind the way in which Peggy is
why Peggy is assertive while Kitty is maturing, write three possible futures for
SU M M AR Y not? her. Share them with the class and decide
We get the sense of a mutual respect on the most probable.
The atmosphere continues to be frosty growing between Mrs Madden and
towards Peggy as suspicion hangs over 4. DEDICATION
Peggy. What was it about Peggy that
her in relation to the disappearance of impressed Mrs Madden? What was it The dedication at the beginning of the
Roxannes ring. Kittys serious illness about Mrs Madden that impressed book is for all those who have sailed across
presents a distraction and Peggys care Peggy? Try to give actual examples stormy seas to find a new life. Do you
for Kitty reinstates her in the esteem of from the unit to support your ideas. think this dedication is only for those who
the housekeeper. It transpires that have made a physical journey across the
For the first time in the book, we get
Roxanne had attempted to set Peggy sea? Who else might it include? Would it
the impression that Peggy, sitting in
up. Later the ring is found and Peggys include you or anyone you know?
the Rowans kitchen (p 172) is content.
name is cleared but Roxanne continues
Discuss all the factors that contributed Denotes activities that are suitable for
to insult and demean Peggy. Peggy
to that feeling of contentment. both senior cycle primary school use and
begins to develop ploys to defend
junior cycle secondary school use.
herself. Mrs Madden moves on to better

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, MARITA CONLON-MCKENNA

MARITA CONLON-MCKENNA is the author of the Reviews for Wildflower Girl:
best-selling CHILDREN OF THE FAMINE trilogy,
The description of the forty-day boat
which includes Under The Hawthorn Tree,
journey, travelling steerage, is likely to burn
Wildflower Girl and Fields of Home. Other titles
itself into the mind of the readers, a timely
by Marita are: The Blue Horse, Safe Harbour and
reminder in these days of flight, of the road
No Goodbye. Her books have been translated
travelled by our emigrating ancestors in
into Irish, French, German, Dutch, Danish,
search of work. Books Ireland
Swedish and Japanese.
Marita Conlon-McKenna is not afraid of
ALSO IN THE CHILDREN OF THE FAMINE SERIES:
challenging her readers with tales of
hardship. Adversity is to be faced down is
In Under The Hawthorn Tree (ISBN 978-0-86278-206-1), three the message. Andersonstown News
children, left to fend for themselves and close to starvation, make a
perilous journey to relatives that might just by focusing on the heroic determination
be able to save them. and unquenchable resilience of Peggy...
during her enforced emigration to Boston...
In Fields of Hom e (ISBN [it] depicts in the most vivid terms the
978-0-86278-509-3), we catch up with the personal tragedies ensuing from the
fortunes of all three children twenty years abstraction called the Famine. Irish Times
after the end of the Famine.