THE CURSED FAMINE.

Today, I present you with a post with a difference. 

A friend of mine was kind enough to send this to me after this was posted in a

genealogical list. I enjoyed reading this account and thought you would also.

 I present this as it was sent to me.

 I post it here with the kind permission of 

Mr. Michael Purcell

Guest Author for today.

*The Cursed Famine*

*1845-1848*

*By Mr Michael Purcell - July 2006*

------------------------------

*The scene outside Mangans Mills in Coal Market, Carlow c1846*

*The Cursed Famine*

In June 1845, a potato fungal disease, Phytophthora infestans, which the

Irish people later referred to as 'the blight', had spread from South America 

(where, ironically, the potato itself originated circa 1560) was reported in Belgium. 

The report was to have catastrophic consequences for Ireland.  

As far back as 1835 warnings that the Irish population had become

over dependant on the potato as a source of nutrition had gone unheeded. It

was estimated that the average pre-famine adult consumed 12-14 pounds of

potatoes a day.

This dependence, combined with the landlord, commercial and political

systems, which operated at the time, was to transform another Irish famine

(over a period of 600 years up to thirty severe famines were recorded in

Ireland and Europe) into The Great Famine of Irish history (An Gorta Mor).

In the following six years, 1845-'51 Ireland lost over two million of her

people to starvation, disease and emigration. Large numbers emigrated to the

United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain. Most of them were

never to return to the land of their birth.

For generations to come, the Famine was to have a profound effect on the

religious, cultural, political, economic and social development of Ireland.

During the Famine, grain was exported, tenants were evicted and people were

deported for the most trivial crimes. In 1849, when emigration, eviction,

disease and mortality were higher in many parts of the country than at any

other time during the Famine Queen Victoria visited Ireland and was to

record that she had never seen a more good humoured crowd, "the women are

really handsome, even in the lower class." Is it any wonder that for

generations afterwards the popular nationalist view was that "God sent the

potato blight but the English caused the Famine". And despite the fact that

the Queen personally donated £5,000 (a very substantial sum in those days)

and became involved in many charities providing relief she was to become

known to the Irish as "The Famine Queen". Combined with the fact that "The

Great Famine" was followed by "The Great Silence", led in to various

interpretations of the facts in the years that followed.

*Historical Gaps*

During the past few years, especially in the build-up to the 150th

anniversary of the Famine in 1995, many national and local historians have

been objectively researching the gap between the factual history and the

traditions of the period. A National Famine Commemoration Committee was

established to carry out a micro-study of Poor Law Union areas.

Local historians of the calibre of Ted Brophy, Seamus Murphy, R. V Comerford

and Frank Taaffe produced papers, and school projects got under way. A very

successful commemorative exhibition organised by Teagasc in conjunction with

the Department of Agriculture was mounted in the RDS grounds in Dublin,

while the community library in Athy mounted an exhibition of artefacts

relating to the Famine in Kildare.

The academics tell us that it is the local historians who hold the key that

will unravel the real history and suffering of the Famine period. With this

in mind I add the results of my own research gleamed from sources relating

to counties Carlow, Kildare and Laois.

*Authoritative Account*

The great silence that I referred to earlier came about partly because of

the shortage of academic historians capable of producing an authoritative

account of the period but many believe that this " silence" ensued mainly

because there was the survivors' guilt of those who not only escaped with

their lives but were left in better circumstances as a result of the Famine,

for there were winners as well as losers during and after the terrible

events of 1845 - 1851. A decisive minority of people including the

"grabbers" and "gombeen men," did well out of the Famine and it was their

successors who became, so to speak, the "shakers and movers," of the

commercial life of Ireland in the following decades. For instance in County

Carlow before the Famine there were over 4,000 small farm holdings of

between one and 15 acres - after the Famine there were just over 2,000 small

farm holdings of that acreage in the county.

The unanswered question was, who divided out the land, who lost and who

gained. One has only to look at the small hovel-like pre-famine buildings

dotted around the countryside that passed for homes compared to the fine

post-famine buildings that emerged on the Irish landscape following the

Famine to grasp this aspect of the outcome.

With the publication in 1956 of Prof. Edward's and William's academic

volume" The Great Famine" the silence was broken. Incidentally two Carlow

men T. P. O'Neill, MA, and Oliver MacDonagh, MA, Ph.D., were among the first

to contribute to this scholarly volume. Their MA thesis became the

celebrated chapters: T. P. O'Neill on the Organisation and Administration of

Relief, 1845-'52 and Oliver MacDonagh on "Irish emigration to the USA and

the British Colonies during the Famine".

T. P. O'Neill also wrote an article "The Famine in Carlow" which was

published in the 1947 edition of Carloviana, the journal of the Old Carlow

Society.

*Mountain Property*

In his book " Realities of Irish Life" William Stewart Trench, agent to Lord

Lansdowne of Luggacurren eviction infamy, referring to his land in Cardtown,

County Laois, then known as Queens County, wrote in his diary on August

6,1846: "I shall not readily forget the day, I rode up, as usual, to my

mountain property and my feelings may be imagined when, before I saw the

crop, I smelt the fearful stench, now so well known and recognised as the

death sign of each field of potatoes. I was dismayed, indeed, but I rode on.

As I rode down the newly engineered road, running through the heart of the

farm, I could scarcely bear the fearful and strange smell, which came up so

rank from the luxuriant crop then growing all around; no perceptive change,

except the smell, had yet come upon the apparent prosperity of the

deceitfully luxuriant stalks, but the experience of the past few days taught

me that all was gone and the crop was utterly worthless".

*The Catholic Church*

The Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Francis Haly wrote in January 1847 " no

imagination can conceive, no pen can describe it. To have anything

approaching a correct idea of the suffering of the poor, you should be here

on the spot and see them with your own eyes!" and he added, "in one of the

Dublin workhouses it appears the deaths were 50 a week, so crowded were the

unhappy inmates".

Father Maher was another R.C. priest that expressed his anger at how little

was being done to relieve distress and denounced the 16 ounces of food doled

out to the poor in Carlow Workhouse. Many priests and religious orders

played a part in relieving the conditions of the people, but the Hierarchy

seem to have been as concerned with political events (the build up to the

failed Rising of 1848 for instance) and other church matters such as the

vexed question of the "soupers" and the role and motives of other churches

including the Quakers which diminished the role of the Hierarchy in the

memory of the succeeding generations of Irish people.

But it is the Society of Friends (Quakers) who were remembered most fondly

by the people for their practical sleeves-rolled-up, no-strings-attached

assistance at this time.

*The Worst Effects*

The blight had reached Ireland in August 1845. Its late arrival, when most

of the crop was already saved, meant that the worst effects were not felt in

that year. It was in 1846 that nearly the entire potato crop was wiped out.

In Carlow it was estimated that half of the crop was destroyed, by December

it was reported that no potatoes were available. In Ballymurphy it was

claimed that people were actually starving. Relief committees were organised

and gave assistance in Myshall, Grangeford, Nurney, Clonegal, Kellistown,

Tinryland, Old Leighlin, Barragh, Borris, Ballon, Rathoe, Rathvilly, Tullow,

Ballyellin, Ballymurphy, Bagenalstown, Clonmore, St.Mullins and Fenagh.

In November 1846, cooked food was distributed to the destitute by the

Society of Friends (Quakers) in Carlow town and county. There were

complaints that some people who were not destitute were receiving relief.

Seven large boilers in which to cook stirabout soup were distributed in

Carlow, one to Mangan's Mills of Coal Market in the town of Carlow (the

boiler exists to this day. see note at end of this article). In it was

cooked yellow meal and rice and also turnip parings and dripping fat.

In 1973 the late Miss Kathy Mangan, when she was in her 90th year, told me

that her aunt Johanna Mangan had told her that people would stand in line in

the Coal Market carrying a pot or a bowl to place food in. They had to eat

the contents there and then so as to make sure it would not be swapped or

traded for tobacco or alcohol by some of the more roguish element of the

destitute. They also had a security man posted to make sure that none of the

employed labourers would avail of the relief. Stirabout was also distributed

from the Presentation school in Tullow Street.

In Kildare during November 1846, the threat of raids on provision boats

along the Grand Canal led to a contingent of 23 constabulary being assembled

to protect the fleet. On the night of January 19, 1847, a food boat was

attacked by a large body of men in the Bog of Allen and robbed of "several

packages of tobacco, eggs and whiskey". Frank Taaffe in a paper presented to

Kildare County Library, tells us that "Kildare, with 85 per cent of its area

classified as arable land, had the smallest area given over to potato

growing of all the Irish counties, also the building of the GSWR railway

line gave much employment in the area during 1845 and up to August, 1846,"

so at least for this period there was no great distress recorded in Kildare.

Nevertheless, the number of inmates in Athy Workhouse, which was opened in

1844 to accommodate 360 adults and 240 children, reached 737 by December

1846. There were three workhouses in Co. Kildare - at Athy, Celbridge and

Naas. In 1847, the Naas Workhouse admitted 1,381 people.

*Oatmeal Diet*

The Carlow Workhouse, opened in November 1844 to accommodate 800 inmates, was

inhabited in December 1847 by over 1,400 destitute. In the following year

there were over 1,500 inmates recorded in the workhouse. It catered for most

of the county and for Slievemargy in the county of Laois, (then known as

Queens County). Workhouses in Baltinglass, Shillelagh and New Ross provided

for the eastern and southern sections of county Carlow.

The diet for Carlow Workhouse in 1847 consisted of eight ounces of oatmeal

with a pint of mixed milk for breakfast and for dinner, one pound of brown

bread with a pint of buttermilk. In fact at this time the prisoners held in

the jail in Carlow town were better fed than the workhouse inmates. In the

jail prisoners received: one pound of brown bread and a pint of sweet milk

for breakfast and for dinner eight ounces of oatmeal stirabout and a pint of

buttermilk. (on Sundays two pounds of brown bread and two pints of milk were

served for dinner!).

Besides the mass emigration that was prevalent during the Famine there was

emigration schemes assisted by the landlords who had figured that it was

much cheaper to be rid of the destitute than to maintain the unfortunates in

workhouses.

Over the years many of the workhouse officers were dismissed for

"irregularities" which did not make the enforcement of this detested system

any easier for the administrators or the inmates but nevertheless there were

many good officers and Masters and Matrons during this sad time.

An odd ray of sunshine was allowed into the workhouse to dispel the gloom,

when the danger of cholera was present the inmates were encouraged to 

dance to keep up their spirits.

The workhouse also had an itch ward where those afflicted with "the itch"

were kept and wherein they could scratch each other to shreds, not to

mention the ward for the insane.

*Relief Works or the Workhouse*

To provide labourers with money and assistance the government set up relief

committees throughout the country they in turn were to organise relief 

works / schemes in various Grand Jury districts. Ten committees were established

for Carlow but only five qualified for government aid, they were Tullow,

Bagenalstown, Hacketstown, Kiltennel and Borris. Due to political and legal

difficulties the relief schemes could not be implemented immediately.

The aid schemes plan had to be first submitted to the Lord Lieutenant who

then sought the opinion of the Relief Commission and also sought advice from

the Board of Works (themselves subject to advice from a supervisory

system) on the advisability of proceeding with the aid. Reports from those

bodies were then forwarded to the Treasury in London and the approval of the

treasury agents were required before any aid could be released. On occasion

a proposal might be returned for clarification on a point.

Many complaints were lodged by the landowners and the clergy against this

delay, and many of the landlords made strong representations to the

government to get things moving. In the meantime subscriptions were

collected among the landlords and the clergy " to aid in every possible way

those who needed assistance". In May, a large crowd gathered at Alexander's

Mills outside Carlow and refused to disperse until they were promised that

the gentry of Carlow would come to their aid. Finally in June 1846 "public

work schemes" got underway.

Aid would be distributed to committees formed for each electoral division.

These committees were to make estimates of their required budget for two

weeks in advance and this budget had then to be sanctioned by the finance

section of each poor law union. On obtaining this approval, the budget was

advanced to the treasurer, who, if he was satisfied, would then approve payment

of the budget.

The schemes were building new roads, hill lowering, filling hollows, repair

of roads, building walls, etc. but all was not well in some areas. In

Leighlinbridge a mob of about 200 people tore up the newly laid road because

they thought " the schemes inadequate to employ all the destitute

labourers".

The system was intent on making it difficult and undesirable to the

destitute to apply for aid in order to encourage them to support themselves.

Believe it or not but this operation was successful in alleviating distress

in many areas.

People who were deemed sick or unable to work could get support from the

Committees. The committees also issued cooked food according to a plan

devised by the Society of Friends (Quakers). Only those able to work could

seek admission to the workhouse, otherwise imprisonment was a better option!

T.P. O'Neill tells us that: "In practice, if not in theory, the Calvinist

tenet that poverty was a sign of wickedness was accepted by the elite of the

times"  -  this could explain why the inmates of the jail were better treated

and fed.

*Extensive Removals*

In 1846, Colonel Wandesforde sent out 3,000 people from the Castlecomer area

at a cost of £5 each. Those of farming stock were directed to Canada, those

with mining experience to Pennsylvania. It was also reported that Lord de

Vesci was undertaking extensive removals from the Queen's County (Laois).

Wandesforde and de Vesci were among others who were accused of "brutal

extermination" at the time. Overall the death rate on the "coffin ships" was

extremely high. In 1847 alone over 40,000 died at sea. Another emigration

option was the assisted passage of workhouse orphans of which over 4,000

orphan girls were sent to Australia during 1847-'49. A large number came

from the Carlow, Kildare and Laois workhouses.

*Dreaded Cholera*

The highest number of admissions to the workhouse took place in 1849. It was

at this time that the dreaded cholera swept the whole country. The epidemic

was severe with over 30,000 deaths recorded throughout the country. Laois in

particular suffered badly during this period.

*Sam Snoddy*

My own great grandfather, Sam Snoddy, a Presbyterian Ulsterman from Ballymena,

County Antrim had come to Carlow working on the railway line and had settled

in Pollerton Road, Carlow town in 1845. On the first day of September 1849,

Sam went to work early in the morning when he returned that night his wife,

Sera, and two children, John and Anne, were dead and their remains already

buried in Knockaunnarelic graveyard on the edge of the town. In their last

hours all three had been baptised and received into the Roman Catholic

Church by Rev. G. Kearns. How much of a say they had in their sudden

"conversion " I can't say, all I know is that when Sam went to work that

morning he left behind a wife with two children all of the Presbyterian

faith and when he returned they were dead and buried and Roman Catholic!

Thirty days later Sam himself converted to the Roman Catholic religion,

thereby going against the norm of the time when others were converting away

from Catholicism to get the "free soup" and other benefits here he was

becoming a Catholic. At the time those families who took the "soup" became

known for generations as "soupers" after the Famine many re-converted back

to being Roman Catholics and in turn they became known as "jumpers", so one

could have the "souper Doyles" or "souper Murphys" and later, after the

famine was over, the "jumper Doyles or "jumper Murphys" I think in the

following generations the "jumpers" were more frowned upon than the

"soupers". I am sure there are many such stories with families throughout

the counties. It is imperative that those accounts should be recorded in

order to enable historians to form a complete picture of the events of this

period. Often the best way to bring home the reality of a disaster is to

hear the personal stories of the people who were affected.

*Population Decline*

In comparison to many other counties, particularly those along the western

and southern seaboard, we know that Carlow, Kildare and Laois escaped the

worst effects of the calamity. In County Carlow for instance the population

declined by approximately 20,000 in the years between the census of 1841 and

1851 and in fact the population of Carlow town increased during this period.

T.P. O'Neill in his 1947 article for "Carloviana" pointed out that " it must

be remembered that it was disease and fever which caused most of the deaths

during this period rather than direct starvation". I would add that

bungling, incompetent politicians and a distant, uncaring government were

also responsible for the hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths and for

much of the hardship and suffering of the Irish people. This was taught in

the schools and was remembered by the Irish in the century that followed,

which in turn, was to sour the relationship between Ireland and her nearest

neighbour for generations.

Very little is recorded in the folk memory records for the three counties

but there are many sources as yet untapped such as the local landlord

accounts, local newspapers for this period, estate papers, workhouse

records, church registers, the Pat Purcell Papers and various other

collections. The purpose of this article is to stimulate interest and,

hopefully, to encourage others to research this neglected period of our

history. Carlow County Heritage Society would like to learn of any such

research project, perhaps with a view to publishing same.

I wish to thank Cait Kavanagh of Laois County Library, Mary Coughlan of

Kildare County Library, Carmel Flahavan of Carlow County Library and my late

uncle Pat Purcell for preserving so many records of the period.

*Mangan's Famine boiler*

Michael Purcell and Ronnie Strong pictured with Mangan's famine boiler.

"The Cursed Famine" is based on extracts from a paper prepared by 

Michael Purcell for a series of talks due to be given in the USA in 

the near future. Michael will travel to California, Arizona and Arkansas 

as a guest of the Emerald Circle. The theme of the talks will be 

"The role of the ascendancy during the Great Famine" and 

"The Pat Purcell Papers Archive".

*Footnote*

In the year 2002 I presented the Famine Pot, referred to above, to Carlow

County Heritage Society, they have placed it in the Workhouse Burial Plot on

the Green Road, Carlow. It has a stone erected, recording it's history .The

stone was presented by the members of Sister Cities Corp. of Tempe, Arizona

and was unveiled by the late Tom Burns of Todd Drive, Tempe, Arizona in 2002

(c) Michael Purcell