Aisling Bea was left feeling "a little bit shameful" after learning about her family history on "Who Do You Think You Are?"
The Irish actress' episode of the BBC show is due to air on Tuesday and sees her learn more about her ancestor Martha Sheehy.
While chatting with historian Dr. Richard McMahon in Limerick, Aisling is surprised to learn that Martha gained lots of land during the famine.
"So during this devastating period in Irish history, which would have such a long terrible legacy for all of us afterwards, how does someone come to have more land if owned than renting so soon after the famine?" Aisling asked him.
Richard explained: "During the famine landlords would have evicted 100,000s of people off the land and when they are moved of the land, the land is taken over by farmers like your great great great grandmother Martha."
Trying to understand, Aisling replied, "So while she might not be evicting them, she maybe using it as an opportune moment" to which Richard admitted that "some people got larger farms on the back of people getting moved off the land."
Aisling then added: "That is hard to hear. I'll be honest. Having spent all our childhood learning about the Irish famine in our history classes, anyone who, any terrible situation profited… It does make me feel a little bit shameful to be honest."
Elsewhere in the episode, Aisling, who was heavily pregnant when she filmed the show, visits Kerry where her paternal great-grandfather Pádraig Ó Briain was once a school teacher.
According to the Irish Independent, Aisling learned that Pádraig took part in the Easter Rising in 1916 and that his wife Ellen died of TB at the age of 34 in 1920 when their daughter, Eileen, Aisling’s grandmother, was only one.
Aisling previously posted about the show in her usual comedic style, writing: "'Who Do You Think You Are? - something I’ve often been asked but in not so quite a nice BBC way.
"Truly honoured to have gotten to do this show two weeks before dropping about 8lbs. I never intended to wear this brat yellow jumper on screen, and in hindsight, will truly regret the gift shop purchase for the rest of my life, but let’s just say where we went had sudden heatwaves, wind, and rain in the summer (no spoilers) & it was hard to find things to fit a 37 week preggo last minute.
"I’ll be forever grateful for the amount of work the team put into my family history & to the incredible historians. Such a special thing to be able to do especially whilst making another branch in the tree."
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Aisling's "Who Do You Think You Are?" episode is out on Tuesday, May 20.
*This article was originally published on Evoke.ie.
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