Kerry Girls Read Free Page B

on arrival? We have no record of his thought process but it is evident that the criteria for selection appears to have been largely ignored and it was one of the major flaws that worked against the success of the scheme as all of these negative issues would affect their settlement in Australia.
    And again, did the girls have a real choice – whether to go or stay? There were a number of ‘push’ factors from the girls’ perspective. The ‘poorhouse’ as they called it, was a shameful experience, living conditions were extremely basic, they were ill-fed and ill-clothed. A number of them could neither read nor write, notwithstanding the ‘schools’ run in the workhouses. Indeed, following the inspection of Lieutenant Henry there was a report from the master to the Board at the following Listowel Meeting:

    The Master begs to report that the education of the female children appears to be very much neglected at the Workhouse school. On yesterday when the Emigration Officer examined the girls, many of whom have been 2 years or more at this school, very few could even read very imperfectly. Only one or two make any attempt at writing. 16

    The Listowel girls, hailing from the Baronies of Iriaghticonnor and Clanmaurice, would have experienced friends and relations in the workhouse being taken away for burial to Gale cemetery and later on to mass graves in Teampall Bán, on a daily basis, as a result of hunger, overcrowding and disease, so the prospect of a journey, any journey, out of the workhouse would have been better than remaining where they were.
    The Minutes note that ‘Lieutenant Henry (Emigration Officer) this day examined the several orphan girls in the Workhouse and selected the following for emigration to Australia’. 17
Mary Brandon
Newtownsandes
Johanna Hayes
Kiltomey
Mary Purcell
Listowel
Ellen Wilson
Listowel
Ellen Casey
Ratoo
Hanna Jones
Listowel
Margaret Stack
Kiltomey
Mary Wilson
Listowel
Mary Casey
Duagh
Eliza Moriarty
O’Dorney
Catherine Ryan
Listowel
Ellen Leary
Ardfert
Margaret Connor
Listowel
Johanna Connor
Ballylongford
Mary Ryan
Listowel
Biddy Ryan
Listowel
Mary Conway
Dromkeen E.D .
Winnie Pierce
Ratoo
Margaret Scanlon
Listowel
 
    Daniel Griffin was voted ‘twenty pounds to defray the expenses of the Emigrants to Dublin’. 18 The girls were initially taken with their trunks by cart and train to Dublin’s North Wall for boat and train to Plymouth, to board the ship Thomas Arbuthnot leaving for Sydney on 28 October 1849.
    Each girl was to be provided with a specified list of requirements. All items were to be new and of good quality. Since all the girls were Catholics they were each to be given a Douay Bible. Finally the Guardians were to provide wooden boxes of good material with strong locks into which the girls were to pack their belongings. Each emigrant’s name was to be clearly painted on the front of the box. The list of requirements were as follows:

    Minutes of the Listowel Board of Guardians, 11 September 1849.

    6 Shifts, 6 prs Stockings, 2 prs of shoes, 2 Gowns 2 Short Wrappers, 2 Night Wrappers, 2 Flannel Petticoats, 2 Cotton Petticoats, 1 Stout Worsted Shawl & a Cloak, 2 Neck and 3 Pocket Handkerchiefs, 2 Linen Collars, 2 Aprons, 1 Pair of Stays, 1 Pair Sheets, 1 Pair of Mitts, 2 Towels, 2lbs Soap, Combs and Brushes, Needles, Thread, Tape and articles (such as a few yards of calico) that the Matron might desire Females to acquire, Books, Bible and Prayer Book, Bible (Douay).

    Each girl also received a paper from the workhouse certifying her good conduct and unblemished moral character and a medical certificate showing she was of good health and had been vaccinated against smallpox.
Dingle
    While the Dingle Relief Committee was set up in 1845, the actual Dingle Union did not formally come into being until 22 February 1848. We know that the Dingle Peninsula was particularly badly affected by the Famine. Ventry, Ballyferriter and Castlegregory were blackspots on a par with