From the Wikipedia entry on Raiftéirí:

"Some time between 1785 and 1788, Anthony Raftery's life took a huge turn. It all started with a cough. Soon two of the children began suffering from headaches. Another child had a high fever. A rash appeared on Anthony's hand. It caused severe itching. Soon the children were covered in that same rash. They had contracted smallpox. Within three weeks, eight of the nine children had died. One of the last things young Anthony saw before going blind was his eight siblings laid out dead on the floor."

Smallpox was wiped out and no longer exists anywhere in the world (except in two laboratories), after the World Health Organization's global vaccination campaign from 1958 to 1977.