Irish History, Culture, Heritage, Language, Mythology
Sidney Osborne, English travel writer. “Seventy houses were pulled down, under the orders of the agent of the property. The people had for some days to crowd on the neighbouring chapel floor, and by the sides of the ditches, for the neighbours had orders not to take them in: it is fair to state the […]
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The Mersey Ship – “We could be buried along with our people, in the old churchyard, with the green sod over us, instead of lying like rotten sheep thrown in a pit, and the minute the breath is out of our bodies, thrown into the sea to be eaten up by them horrid sharks.” Robert […]
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Asenath Nicholson “I gave a little boy a biscuit, and a thousand times since have I wished that it had been thrown into the sea; it could not save him. He took it between his bony hands, clasped it tight, and half-bent as he was, lifted them up, looked with his glaring eyes upon me, […]
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James Tuke “The people were turned out of doors and the roofs of their houses pulled down. That night they made a tent or shelter of wood and straw; however, the drivers [bailiffs] threw them down and drove them from the place. . .It would have pitied the sun to look at them, as they […]
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Opthalmia, an eye disease caused by lack of vitamin A, became prevalent causing blindness due to ulceration and keratomalacia, generally in one eye. It became common in workhouses and among children: 13,000 cases were recorded in 1849 and 27,000 in 1850. Taken from The Truth Behind The Irish Famine. 72 Paintings, 472 eyewitness quotes. http://www.jerrymulvihill.com
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Asenath Nicholson: “They walk fearlessly upon dangerous precipices and even descend to the sea in search of eggs, which the seagulls deposit there in the sides of the cliffs. Two men were dashed from a fearful height and dreadfully mangled, one was killed instantly, and the other lingered a few weeks and died.” The starving […]
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‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ is a charity single organised by Bob Geldof, who was the lead singer of The Boomtown Rats. He got the idea after watching a BBC documentary on famine in Ethiopia. Geldof wrote the lyrics and Midge Ure from the band Ultravox wrote the music and produced the track, which was […]
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Edward Delaney (1930–2009) was an Irish sculptor born in Claremorris, Co Mayo in 1930. His best known works include the 1967 statue of Wolfe Tone and ‘famine’ memorial [in memory of the victims of An Gorta Mór 1845-1852] at the northeastern corner of St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and the statue of Thomas Davis in College […]
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When it became a matter of eating or being eaten by the dogs and rats, the people killed, skinned, and ate the dogs and rats. Trapped rats were often chopped up, out of sight of the children, and a white, rabbit-like meat added to whatever gruel or herbal soup was cooking in the pot.” Taken […]
Read MoreThe Irish were renowned for their love of education and embraced the opportunity to have their children educated only to discover that their native language, if still spoken by the children, was banned from the classroom. The introduction of the notorious ‘tally stick’ ensured that the students did not speak a single word of their […]
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