Droch Shaol - The Irish Holocaust
No axes to grind
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By far the most active charitable group in Ireland during the
famine years was the Society of Friends (the Quakers)
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``Often in passing from district to district have I seen the poor
enfeebled labourer, young and old alike, laid down by the side of
the bog or road, on which he was employed, too late for kindness
to avail, nevertheless giving his dying blessing to the bestowers
of tardy relief.''
engineer's description of a broken people. Such scenes were
replicated all over the country, all through the Famine - people
so distressed that they were reduced to grovelling like dogs for
whatever pittance they could receive.
The role of charity organisations in trying to alleviate this
suffering was momentous. Many overseas charities sought
subscriptions and these were used to bolster the local relief
committees in their work. The British Association for the Relief
of the Extreme Distress in the Remote Parts of Ireland and
Scotland collected over £470,000, and at the height of their
efforts were feeding over 200,000 children daily in the west of
Ireland.
Other benefactors, such as Father Matthew of Cork or the new
group, St Vincent de Paul, set up soup kitchens or took part in
other famine relief measures.
While the US government contributed virtually nothing in famine
relief, its population was not found wanting. Through the Society
of Friends (Quakers) and other groups over $500,000 worth of food
- mainly grain - was sent on 118 ships to Ireland. This figure
does not include monies sent directly to friends, relatives or
others by those residing in the USA.
By far the most active charitable group in Ireland during the
famine years was the Society of Friends. They raised hundreds of
thousands of pounds, mainly in England and the US. Ensuring they
were not cutting across the politics of the time, the work of
others, and the grain merchants, they supplied rice in the hope
that local communities could look after themselves. They provided
cooking equipment, large boilers for soup, and pioneered soup
kitchens in Ireland, developed a fishing industry and encouraged
new crops such as flax. They ended their direct relief at the end
of 1847 only because of sheer exhaustion, though continued
supplying relief indirectly.
The relief efforts of the Quakers have lived on in Irish memory,
probably because they had no axes to grind, and wanted only to
help. There were no political or religious strings attached to
their help. They were remembered as kind, generous and efficient
workers who often travelled where other `relief' workers dared
not.
By Aengus O Snodaigh
Getting the facts
Aengus O Snodaigh suggests a Famine reading list
While there is a virtual library of books on the Famine, scores
more have come on the market in the last few years. Most of the
recent books on the Famine - and there are a few - are of a
standard now expected of historical writing. They are legible and
accessible to ordinary readers; books no longer clouded in
academic jargon.
In preparing these articles I relied heavily on Christine
Kinealy's A Death-dealing Famine - the Great Hunger in Ireland
(Pluto Press, £12.99); Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Great Hunger -
Ireland 1845-'49 (£8.99); The Irish Famine - A documentary
history prepared by Noel Kissane (Leabharlann Náisiúnta na
hEireann, £9.95) and The Irish Famine - an illustrated History by
Helen Litton (Wolfhound Press, £6.99).
Also invaluable in preparing these articles and enlightening on
specific topics or areas were Christine Kinealy's The Great
Calamity, the Irish Famine 1845-'52 (Gill & Macmillan, £17.99),
Irish Famine Facts by John Keating (Teagasc, £6), The Irish
Famine Ships - the exodus to America 1846-51 by Edward Laxton
(Bloomsbury, £16.99hb), Eyewitness Grosse Ile 1847 by Marianna
O'Gallagher and Rose Mason Dompierre (Livres Carrai, $37.95Can);
The Workhouses of Ireland - the fate of Ireland's poor by John
O'Connor (Anvil, £9.95); and The End of Hidden Ireland -
rebellion, famine and emigration by Robert James Scally (Oxford
University Press, £12.99). They made history come to life and are
a must for a fuller picture of a broken, starving people.
Though condemned by revisionists - that should be endorsement
enough - Liam O'Flaherty's Famine (reprinted by Wolfhound, £6.90)
and Walter Macken's Seek the Fair Land are works which invoked in
me a sense of outrage about the Famine when I first read them as
a teenager. Just as Roy Foster's, Kevin Myers's and Mary Daly's
contributions on the Famine have made me angry since, the latest
books I have read have confirmed what I had previously learnt.
You can now read exactly what happened in those terrible times.
Other books consulted include Glórtha ón Ghorta and Gnéithe an
Chorta le Cathal Poirtéir (Coiscéim, £5); The Great Irish Famine
by Stephen J. Campbell (Famine Museum, £5.95) and Letters from
Ireland during the Famine of 1847 edited by D.K.M. Snell (Irish
Academic Press, £12.95pb).
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