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The
Famine in Skibbereen: Dr. Daniel Donovan and Dr. David Hadden
Fiona
Fitzsimons, Helen Moss and Rachel Murphy, Eneclann |
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> Donovan and Hadden Part 1
| 1. Skibbereen during
the Famine |
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| Cork was one of the counties
hardest hit by the Famine between 1845 and 1851. South
west Cork was one of the most adversely affected areas,
particularly the coastal region of Cobh, Clonakilty and
Skibbereen, stretching north to Kanturk. Yet the Famine
occurred even at a time of plenty, as the market for meat
and other more expensive crops that were not affordable
to the Famine poor, continued to flourish. Moreover the
towns of Skibbereen and Clonakilty, situated in one of
the worst affected districts of the county, were long
established stopping-off points along the ‘butter-road’
that led to the Shandon Butter Market in Cork city.(1)
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‘This place is one mass of famine, disease and
death’, a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers)
wrote about Skibbereen in early 1847. ‘The poor
creatures hitherto trying to exist on one meal per day,
are now sinking under fever and bowel complaints unable
to come for their soup, and this is not fit for them.
Rice is what their whole cry is for; but we cannot manage
this well, nor can we get the food carried to the houses
from dread of infection, I have got a coffin with moveable
sides constructed, to convey the bodies to the churchyard
in calico bags prepared, in which the remains are wrapped
up. I have just sent this to bring the remains of a
poor creature to the grave, who having been turned out
of the only shelter she had - a miserable hut - perished
the night before last in a quarry, she was found with
some flax around her, lying dead! You will perceive
my dear sir, by this fact, how we are placed and were
it not for my strong reliance on Almighty God, I could
not bear up against these scenes’.(2)
County Inspector Officer, William Bishop, reported the
situation in Skibbereen as ‘an accumulation of
misery, of fearful want, never witnessed before’.(3)
The scene was one of desperation
and frustration, the poorest people crying out for basic
foodstuffs and, in their weakened state, vulnerable
to fever and diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Local
Famine Relief efforts were hampered by fear of contact
with those dying because of the heightened risk of infection.
The crisis of the Famine was so overwhelming, that many
people seemed almost paralysed with fear, and were unable
to respond adequately to the catastrophe in their midst.
Continues>
2.
Doctors Donovan and Hadden
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| Footnotes |
1.
The Cork Butter Market was established
in 1769, and for over 150 years was the centre of Cork
trade. The Butter Market did not simply trade in butter,
but dealt in provisions exported abroad to feed the British
Navy, as well as exports to other overseas markets, especially
in the West Indies. The Market was operated by a Committee
of Merchants, the ‘Trustees’. However, some
historians are critical of the conduct of the Trustees
during Famine times [1845-51], and suggest that the crisis
of the Famine was subordinated to the interests of the
provisions trade. See especially Peter Nolan, Records
of the Cork Butter Market and a note on the Great Famine,
in Cork Historical and Archaeological Society Journal,
1961.
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| 2.
Transactions of the Society of Friends during the Famine
in Ireland (Dublin 1996, reprint) |
| 3.
Note from County Inspector Officer Wiliam Bishop dated
Skibbereen 9th January 1847 (RLFC 7/6/21) |
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Copyright: Eneclann
Ltd, 2009 |
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