Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
This was an incident that highlighted vividly the injustices that Irish tenant farmers suffered during the 19th century. Many tenants were evicted for inability to pay rent during the The Great Hunger, but quite often the evictions were at the ruthless whim of landlords. Over 300 people in the village of Ballinlass, Co Galway are […]
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Skibbereen was synonymous with ‘The Great Hunger’ or ‘An Gorta Mór’ (1845-52) with reports of pestilence, starvation and death from that area on an almost biblical scale. However, there are also stories of extraordinary courage and heroic deeds about those who ministered to the afflicted and who did so much to alleviate their great distress. […]
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Lord Dufferin (a twenty-one year old student at Oxford) and the Hon G.G. Boyle publish a report on ‘An Gorta Mór in Skibbereen, Co Cork. “The scenes we have witnessed during our short stay at Skibbereen, equal anything that has been recorded by history, or could be conceived by the imagination. Famine, typhus fever, dysentery, […]
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“No person knows better than you do that the domination of England is the sole and blighting curse of this country. It is the incubus that sits on our energies, stops the pulsation of the nation’s heart and leaves to Ireland not gay vitality but horrid the convulsions of a troubled dream.” –Daniel O’Connell In […]
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John Mitchel was one of the great propagandists of his day, although the causes he espoused often placed him on the wrong side, he was loved and loathed in equal measure. He was one of the few Irishmen to have incurred the wrath of the British government and of the Federal administration of the USA. […]
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‘I started from Cork… for Skibbereen and saw little until we came to Clonakilty, where the coach stopped for breakfast; and here, for the first time, the horrors of the poverty became visible, in the vast number of famished poor, who flocked around the coach to beg alms: amongst them was a woman carrying in […]
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‘She is in your hands — in your power. If you do not save her, she cannot save herself. I solemnly call on you to recollect that I predict, with the sincerest conviction, that one-fourth of her population will perish unless you come to her relief.’ Featured Image | The crypt of Daniel O’Connell | […]
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O’Neill is best known for his activities leading the Fenian raids on Canada in 1866 and 1871. He was born in Drumgallon, Clontibrit, Co Monaghan, where he received some schooling. He emigrated to New Jersey in 1848 at the height of An Gorta Mór. He received an additional year of education there and worked […]
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Born Mary Anne Madden in Cootehill, Co Cavan, Sadlier published roughly sixty novels and numerous stories. She wrote for Irish immigrants in both the United States and Canada, encouraging them to attend mass and retain the Catholic faith. In so doing, Sadlier also addressed the related themes of anti-Catholicism, the An Gorta Mór, emigration, and […]
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The horrifying recollections of An Gorta Mór sufferer Brigid O’Donnel were published in the London Illustrated News: “I lived on the lands of Gurranenatuoha. My husband held four acres and a half of land, and three acres of bog land; our yearly rent was £7 4s.; we were put out last November; he owed some […]
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