Mary MacGilligan's life was fairly typical for an Irish peasant woman. She grew up on her fathers small plot of land, and at twenty-five she married another farmer named Samuel Cotter. They had six children, Sheamus, Sara, Samuel, Eamon, Ann, and Liam. Ann died at age one from Cholera. The first son was, of course, named after her older brother. Sheamus and Mary were born within a year of each other, and were close friends growing up. Even when Sheamus became a pawn broker, and the rest of the community, including most of his family, turned against him, Mary remained devoted to him. This devotion was something not even her own husband could understand. However, it would prove to be the saving grace of their children. When the famine hit Samuel and Mary's land was devastated, but they managed to make do. Then the winter came, and besides not having food the weather was too bad for Samuel or Mary to go looking for food or work. In the end Samuel, Mary, and their youngest son, Liam, starved to death surrounded by the four other children. A few days after their deaths, Sheamus, the pawn broker, found them. Out of love for his sister he took in all four children. The irony of the situation was that if Sheamus MacGilligan had been able to have children he could not have afforded to take in Mary's children. Sheamus's wife Sara was overjoyed to finally have children, even if they were not biologically hers.