Annals of the Famine in Ireland, in 1847, 1848, and 1849

by Asenath Nicholson

"Annals of the Famine in Ireland" is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the effects and contributing causes of the Great Famine. But it is not a history. It does not merely trot out facts and figures. Rather, it is a personal and emotional response from an eye-witness to the calamity. Histories are generally detached from the events that they record but, in this account, the reader will experience an immediacy to the situation as though transported back to the very time and place. The anecdotal nature of the testimony allows it to be so. The author, Asenath Nicholson, was a native of Vermont in the United States. She had previously travelled through Ireland in 1844–45 and graphically described the condition of the Irish poor at that time in her book "Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger". She was a teetotaller and a vegan, with a decidedly feminist outlook; she was also ardently anti-slavery and pro animal rights; but first and foremost she was a Christian woman of great piety and all her opinions and actions were coloured by her sincerely-held religious beliefs. When occasion demanded it, Mrs. Nicholson didn’t pull her verbal punches, and those who fell short of her ideal of Christian charity were in grave danger of receiving the sharp edge of her tongue. In the Annals she provides her frank and forthright assessment of government, landlords, relieving officers, and clergy of all denominations. Perhaps not surprisingly, she concludes that indifference, incompetence, mismanagement and corruption among those with influence were all contributing factors to the catastrophe, and suggests that the potato blight in itself need not have led to such widespread starvation and misery. Here also we receive a valuable insight into the practical realities associated with the famine years—how the dead were disposed of, how the poorhouses operated, the consequences of eviction, proselytism, the inadequacies of Indian meal and 'black bread' as a substitute staple diet, etc. The picture painted is a truly harrowing one, with many scenes of despair and degradation. And it wasn’t only the very poorest at the outbreak of the famine who suffered. Not a few died labouring on their behalf, while others living in relative comfort lost everything in trying to meet the rising taxes that funded such institutions as the poorhouse in which they themselves often ended up. Some, of course, selfishly profited from the tragic situation, and the more unscrupulous landlords took the opportunity to divest their estates of tenantry who no longer had the means with which to pay the rent. Mass emigration, largely to America, was the consequence of it all. This new edition has been annotated.

Genres: History, Ireland, Nonfiction

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Asenath Hatch Nicholson (February 24, 1792 – May 15, 1855) was an American vegan, social observer and philanthropist. She wrote at first hand about the Great Hunger in Ireland in the 1840s. She observed the famine as she distributed bibles, food, and clothing.

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1844, Asenath Nicholson traveled from New York to visit Ireland. Her purpose as a Quaker was to distribute Bibles among the Irish Catholics. What she found instead was an island wracked by extreme poverty, a growing potato blight, and absentee landlords.Mrs. Nicholson's mission quickly changed from Bible distribution to aid and relief. She felt called by God and, in January of 1847, began the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends in Dublin. The following summer she traveled on her own to the West of Ireland, visiting the impoverished and dying, and saw the effects of the Famine in the rural counties.

Ireland was part of the British Empire, defeated by Oliver Cromwell in 1650 From that time forward, wealthy British aristocrats owned tracts of land in Ireland, and rented out parcels to the native populace. The Irish were tenant farmers who paid their rent in crops, such as wheat and potatoes. For the most part, potatoes were grown for the farmers own consumption, and was often their only food. In addition to this socioeconomic setting, religion also played a role. For the most part, the British landowners were Protestant and the Irish were Catholic. These landowners were also called "absentee landlords"because they rarely visited their estates.

This is the backdrop in which Mrs. Nicholson found herself. Though she was Protestant, her first goal was to provide food for the hungry. Her organization received cornmeal. Cornmeal was sent as relief from the American government, but most poor Irish had no way of cooking it into bread. What was invented was "stirabout," a water and cornmeal gruel-like mixture.

Often, the meal became moldy during transport, and caused illness to those who did eat it. "...meal, which soon gathered dampness, then became mouldy[sic] and wholly unfit for use" (51). Nicholson questioned the governments decision to send the meal in sacks, rather than in a barrel. She became extremely critical of the government relief efforts when she discovered the starving in workhouses were given moldy black bread and turnips. She describes the bread as "sour, black and had the consistency of liver" (113).

Editor Maureen Murphy conducted exhaustive research on Mrs. Nicholson for this 1998 edition. The introduction contains relevant details of Mrs. Nicholson's life as a teacher, abolitionist and reformer. Murphy paints an excellent progression of Nicholson's work and religious beliefs, through her calling to go to Ireland.

Asenath Nicholson's Annals of the Famine in Ireland is an excellent resource of the conditions in Ireland during this time. According to Murphy, Nicholson's original works dedicated to her years in Ireland first appeared as Ireland's Welcome to a Stranger in 1847, then as Light and Shades of Ireland in 1850. By 1851, Nicholson had expanded her earlier versions into the Annals of the Famine in 1847, 1848 and 1849.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published a few years after the Irish Potato Famine and was written by a lady who spent time there during that awful period. I found it as a free eBook from B&N while looking for books about this famine. The true accounts are sad to read but gives a true picture of how people suffered.

[Nia]

Famine caused by misappropriation of resources (corrupt bureaucracy), irresponsible landowners, and peasants' dependence on potato alone. Lots of international organizations sent aid; received warmly, though with some apprehension of proselytizing.