Margaret Twomey's life began rather unremarkably. She grew up working on Mary and Paul's little farm. In 1840 she married a local farmer named Thomas Colbert, and moved into the stone hut on his small piece of land. The Colberts had seven children, Adam, Marcus, Esther, Micah, Delores, Jeremiah, and Peter. Thomas was not as fortunate as the Twomey's. Thomas rented his few acres of land from his brother. His brother rented his land from another land holder, who rented from another absentee English landlord. Because of this long string of renters Thomas's land was not large enough to grow a cash crop or graze animals. Thomas's land was entirely devoted to growing potatoes to feed himself and his family. To pay the rent on the land Thomas was forced to travel throughout the country looking for work. He would leave in late August and spend most of the fall and winter working throughout Ireland. He would return in February to plant and tend his potato crop.

This system worked well until 1846, when a fungal disease, commonly called blight, brought from America, infected the potato crop. In a matter of weeks the potato crop was destroyed. Thomas's family was forced to live off a portion of the potatoes that were being saved for planting the following year. Unfortunately, the potato crop of 1847 failed as well, leaving thousands without food. In an effort to keep his family from starving, Thomas was forced to go farther afield for longer periods of time in search of work. His travels often carried him not only throughout Ireland, which was swarming with hungry individuals looking for work, but to England and Scotland as well. In the mean time, Margaret was left with the task of trying to maintain the farm and raise her children.