Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Great Famine in Mayo

The Great Famine in Mayo: "he starving sick crowded into towns in the hope of securing help. The Telegraph reported the situation in Westport in September.

'From the town to the Quay, on the Workhouse line, the people are lying along the road, in temporary sheds, constructed of weeds, potato tops . . . . on the road to Rosbeg, similar sheds are to be met with, with poor creatures lying beneath them. On the Newport line, the same sickening scenes are to be encountered'.

In the area around Shrule, the Reverend Phew described how

'about three or four hundred of the most destitute have crawled to Ballinrobe every Friday for the last month, seeking admission to the workhouse or outdoor relief and though they remained each day until night, standing in wet and cold at the workhouse door, craving for admission, they have got no relief'.

People weakened by hunger and fever were unable to give proper burials to dead neighbours and relatives. The Tyrawly Herald described the situation at Leigue Cemetery in Ballina:

'in some places the graves are so shallow that portions of the coffins are visible above ground'."

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