Coffin Ship Read Free Page B

sacrificed in Ireland, to the doctrines of political economy – but why mock our sufferings? – why torture us still further by the cruel assertion which he has just sent forth, as if to prevent the flow of public sympathy towards alleviating the miseries of our wretched people. When men read these things abroad – when Europeans and Americans shall peruse the proceedings in Parliament, they will naturally say to themselves that matters are not so bad in Ireland as was represented, that plenty is flowing in, and disease going forth from the land.
    Well, truly, we are a misgoverned race, when a person entrusted with the conduct of public affairs could dare to make such an assertion. How forcibly does this prove to us the folly of submitting any longer to be ruled by men so utterly ignorant, or wilfully blind to the interests of this portion of the Empire? [5]
    Were these sentiments intended to ease the conscience of a government refusing to face up to its responsibilities? Some would say that more sinister motives were at play; that a natural disaster was allowed to develop, through starvation, destitution, disease, fever and mass emigration.

Notes
    [ 1 ] Henry, William, Role of Honour: The Mayors of Galway City 1485–2001 (2001), pp. 102, 103.
    Litton, Helen, The Irish Famine: An Illustrated History (1994), Introduction.
    Ã“ Cathaoir, Brendan, Famine Diary (1999), Introduction.
    O’Dowd, Peadar, The Great Famine and the West 1845-1850 (1995), pp. 2, 3.
    The Illustrated London News : ‘The Galway Starvation Riots’ (25-6-1842).
    [ 2 ] Henry, William, Role of Honour: The Mayors of Galway City 1485–2001 (2001), p. 93.
    Litton, Helen, The Irish Famine: An Illustrated History (1994), pp. 9, 10, 12, 13, 15.
    O’Dowd, Peadar, The Great Famine and the West 1845-1850 (1995), p. 3.
    The Galway Mercury : ‘The Devon Commission’ (26-6-1847).
    [ 3 ] Boston Herald : ‘Triumph out of Tragedy – Commemorating the 150 Anniversary of the Great Hunger’ (26-6-1998), p. 3.
    Litton, Helen, The Irish Famine: An Illustrated History (1994), p. 17.
    Ã“ Cathaoir, Brendan, Famine Diary (1999), pp. 3, 4.
    O’Dowd, Peadar, The Great Famine and the West 1845-1850 (1995), p. 3.
    The Dublin Evening Post (9-9-1845).
    [ 4 ] Boston Herald , ‘Triumph out of Tragedy – Commemorating the 150 Anniversary of the Great Hunger’ (26-6-1998), p. 3.
    Litton, Helen, The Irish Famine: An Illustrated History (1994), pp. 30, 43.
    Ã“ Cathaoir, Brendan, Famine Diary (1999), p. 5.
    Woodham-Smith, Cecil, The Great Hunger 1845-1849 (1989), p. 58.
    [ 5 ] The Galway Mercury : ‘Irish Sufferings – Whig and Tory Sympathy’ (5-6-1847).

II – A Shocking Account
    The scepticism on the part of some politicians about the extent of the problem in Ireland proved extremely costly for the country, and the high price paid by the unfortunate people can neither be ignored nor forgotten.
    In 1847, the Illustrated London News reported that accounts from the Irish provincial papers continued to detail the terrible sufferings of the starving peasantry in Ireland. The artist James Mahoney from Cork, who was working for the Illustrated London News at the time, recounted his experiences in the newspaper. His journey began in Cork city; his destination was Skibbereen. One of the worst hit areas in Ireland during the famine was Skibbereen in County Cork. ‘Remember Skibbereen’ became a byword for rebels in the years following the famine; in fact it is occasionally still uttered today. He encountered few problems during the journey until he reached Clonakilty, where he stopped for breakfast. It was here that the horrors of poverty first became visible to him. Vast numbers of ‘famished poor’ flocked around the coach and began begging. Among them was a woman carrying the corpse of a small child in her arms. She was making the most distressing appeal to the passengers for aid to