A few years after Matthew Twomey was kicked in the head by the donkey, Isaac married Elaine O'Driscoll. In caring for his parents Isaac was forced to take some drastic steps. Besides farming his fathers land, Isaac also became a poacher. Isaac's skill as a poacher and his ever increasing debt, resulting from the famine eventually caused him to run afoul of the law. One cold winter day the Sheriff, Marcus Colbert, Isaac's ostracized cousin, hauled him away to court. He was sentenced to three years, but he did not last that long. After a few months in his damp cell, Isaac died of consumption leaving his family to fend for themselves.