Leitrim's agony
Leitrim and the Great Hunger
By Gerard McAtasney
Published by Carrick on Shannon and District Historical Society
Having returned recently from a holiday in Leitrim where I
experienced the hospitality of the inimitable people of that
county I was delighted to find a book of local interest for me to
review.
The subject is, however, harrowing and tragic. This book is
another of the growing number of local histories of an Gorta Mór.
Long-neglected sources have been dug up and are organised to
present a detailed picture of many aspects of the calamity.
Leitrim was one of the most underdeveloped and deprived parts of
Ireland before the Great Hunger. It sufferred a terrible fate and
between 1841 and 1851 its population fell from 155,297 to
111,915, through death by starvation and disease and emigration.
The decline continued long after that of course and recent
figures show Leitrim and Longford being the only counties in the
26 which are still experiencing a fall in population (Leitrim
today has a population of just over 25,000).
Often forgotten in accounts of this period are the many people
who were condemned to transportation to New South Wales for the
most trivial of offences. For example, we read here of James
Gilmartin who, for the `crime' of stealing meal to feed himself
and his family, was banished to Australia for seven years. While
Gilmartin was in jail in May 1847 awaiting transportation,
accounts show that Lord Leitrim, who owned large tracts of the
county, was spending £130 on a trip to London. This was more than
the total subscribed to many relief funds.
The book shows the contempt the mostly absentee landlords had for
the people, the corruption of the degrading Poor Law system, the
despicable nature of the huxters and gombeen men who actually
profited from the tragedy, and the callousness of the laissez
faire economics dictated from London and Dublin Castle.
Leitrim people and those of Leitrim descent everywhere will be
especially interested in the lists of names of emigrants. Also
fascinating for anyone with a local connection are the statistics
for depopulation which are listed by townland. Thus I was able to
find that the population of the little townland where I stayed
during my holiday fell from 77 in 1841 to 64 in 1851. There
would hardly be 10 people living there now.
Both the author and the publishers are to be commended for this
book and it is of value not only to Leitrim people but to all
with an interest in this period of our history.
BY MICHEAL MacDONNCHA
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