Famine Warhouse 1848
Dear Editor,
On behalf of the Ballingarry 1848 Committee I would like to comment on coverage in the Tipperary Star on the ‘Famine 1848 Walk’ in your issue of 2 August and the letter which you published on 23 August.
First of all, Mr Editor, the Ballingarry 1848 Committee would like to thank you for your comprehensive and accurate coverage of the ‘Famine 1848’ Walk which was held in Ballingarry on the last Saturday in July. As usual, your report fulfilled the important public service role of a regional newspaper in covering local events.
As you reported accurately before and after the event, the public Walk commemorates all those who died in the Famine, 1845-1850, and in the 1848 Rising which took place in Ballingarry in the middle of the Famine and was a response to it. The walk is held annually on the last Saturday in July, the day of the Rising in 1848 and actually follows the exact route of the events of that day. It therefore commemorates the Famine and those who tried to do something about it in the Famine Rising of 1848. For their involvement William Smith O Brien, M.P., Thomas Francis Meagher and others were sentenced to death at a state trial for high treason in Clonmel. They refused to appeal and their sentences were commuted to penal exile in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) in Australia.
This year’s walk was held in glorious sunshine and was a pleasant afternoon out for the people of Ballingarry parish and many who travelled from neighbouring parishes and further afield to walk the mile and a half and participate in an act of remembrance. The Walk took place from the 1848 National Flag monument in the village of The Commons to Famine Warhouse 1848, a State national heritage site and the scene of the 1848 Rising. The Walk was led by the Australian Ambassador and several hundreds took part. The Ambassador proved to be very genial and she personally met virtually everyone and made a speech at the end of the walk. Walkers ranged in age from young children to octogenarians and included several people who were present at the 100th anniversary in 1948.
Readers who are unfamiliar with the history of the period may be confused by a letter which you published on 23 August. Your correspondent asks what has the Famine got to do with the 1848 Rising? The answer is quite simple. The 1848 Rising took place in the middle of the Famine. To look at the 1848 Rising on its own and miss the fact that it took place during a period when a million people died in Ireland is to miss the context of the 1848 Rising.
In the House of Commons in London during the Famine years, William Smith O’Brien, M.P., the leader of the Rising in 1848, relentlessly criticised the famine policy of the government which he stated was leading to unnecessary deaths in Ireland. This was one of the main reasons for his Rising. He attempted to stage a bloodless revolution – he hoped to unite landlord and tenant in protest against British rule – by his actions in the parishes of Mullinahone, Killenaule and Ballingarry he showed that he did not want to shoot anyone – so when he was met by the force of the State it was inevitable that his Rising would be quickly quashed. Indeed he was just after shaking hands with some of the forty seven policemen in the house when the order was given for all police to open fire. James Stephens and Terence Bellew McManus had to pull O’Brien out of the line of fire.
In O’Brien’s letter to the Mining Company of Ireland (the first item in the museum) which was written in the Commons on the morning of the Rising, O’Brien praised the ‘noble and courageous protection’ given to him by the inhabitants of the collieries. He recommended that the entire proceeds of the weekly sale of coal and culm should for the time being be given in payment to the men employed by contract in raising coal and culm. Because of the depression caused by the Famine, he urged the Mining Company to lower the price of coal and culm to the public to create a brisk demand. And he stated that, if the Mining Company ‘endeavours to distress the people by withholding wages and other means, Mr O’Brien will instruct the colliers to occupy and work the mines on their own account; and in case the Irish revolution should succeed, the property of the Mining Company will be confiscated as national property’.
In the museum, O’Brien’s speeches in the House of Commons against the government’s famine policy are given on the panels dealing with the Famine in each of six rooms. During the Famine, Fr Philip Fitzgerald, a priest of Ballingarry parish, wrote that if there were another week of the same kind ‘we must have heaps of unburied dead. This district will be one vast graveyard’.
In penal exile in Van Diemen’s Land, O’Brien got hold of a copy of the 1851 Irish census returns which offered a comparison with the 1841 returns. He noted the massive population loss revealed. He estimated correctly that there had been a loss of two million, of whom he believed, one million had emigrated. He wrote: ‘There remains one million for whose premature extinction the British government is to be held responsible’. ‘When I ponder upon the statistical return of the Irish population which lies before me I feel I did my duty when I endeavoured at the risk of my life to avert the evils which have been inflicted upon my country during the most calamitous reign that Ireland has experienced since it became subject to the British crown’.
If O’Brien had turned to the pages in the census on Ballingarry, as he might well have done, he would have seen documentary evidence of a population loss of well over 2,000 people. In Farranrory Upper, the townsland where Famine Warhouse 1848 is situated there were 104 people in 1841 but only 56 in 1851. Almost half the townsland had disappeared. What became of these 48 people? In adjoining Boulea there were no less than 870 people in the huge pre-famine population of 1841 but only 627 in 1851, a loss of 243 people. What became of them? Were some of them among the ‘unburied dead’ of Fr Fitzgerald’s reference? In Blackcommon the population went down from 331 to 238, a loss of 93. In Kyleballygalvan it went from 196 to 110, a loss of 86. In Williamstown it declined from 171 to 103, a loss of 68 people. In Farranrory Lower it went from 173 to 105, again a loss of 68. In other townslands in Ballingarry parish such as Lisnamrock the population went down from 305 to 120, a loss of 185; in Ballyphilip from 341 to 201, a loss of 140; in Ballintaggart the population went down from 407 to 257, a loss of 150. Such statistical evidence indicates that Ballingarry parish suffered severely during the Famine. Furthermore, the census shows that the Barony of Slieveardagh lost 10,000 people between 1841 and 1851. This brings home the point that all parts of Ireland, with very few exceptions, were affected by the Famine.
The walk has always been billed as the ‘Famine 1848’ Walk. For anyone who knows their history ‘1848’ is a signifier for the Rising (just as a reference to 1798, 1803, 1867, or 1916 signifies the risings of those years). Over the door of the national monument are the words ‘Remember 1848’ erected in 1948 during the centenary commemoration. The official name of the museum is now ‘Famine Warhouse 1848’. My article in the Tipperary Historical Journal 2004 on the State opening of the house in 2004 explains that this name was suggested by the Ballingarry 1848 Committee after careful consideration in line with the interpretation in the house. Our view is that the name will allow this national heritage site to go forward successfully. Locally the house was known as the Warhouse, while nationally and in history books it has been known as the Widow McCormacks with the denigratory tag with which we are familiar. The latter is the British version of the events of that day. O’Brien regarded it as an insult to himself and to the Irish people who died during the Famine. What we now have is an Irish interpretation rather than a British one. The name ‘Famine Warhouse 1848’ brings the house to a much wider audience who may not be familiar with the old local name but will have heard of the Famine. European visitors may also recognise 1848 as the ‘Year of Revolutions’ across Europe. The official name indicates the context of the Rising, and greatly helps for tourism purposes. The exhibition in the house is not just a local one, but national and international in its scope and interpretation thus reflecting the diverse aspects and significance of the event.
The OPW have been developing the site to make it fully functioning in line with its other major sites. Last year an out-building was renovated as a Tea Room. This year another out-building was refurbished as an Audio-Visual room. Only one out-building remains to be tackled. This is planned as an Education Room for students at all levels. Then the access roads will need to be sorted out and after that the publicity.
While politicians from all parties were supportive of the local campaign to have the house saved, it should be acknowledged that the Minister of State at the Office of Public Works and T.D for South Tipperary, Dr Martin Mansergh, played a very important role in the State’s acquisition and restoration of the property.
Your correspondent asks three questions: Firstly, ‘why has the OPW failed to erect signs to direct visitors to the museum’. This is untrue. Signs have been erected in both The Commons and Ballingarry though everyone will agree that more would be useful. Secondly, ‘Why is the Museum closed during the summer tourist season?’ This is quite untrue. Not alone is the museum not closed, it is open during winter as well. The opening times are on the official State website www.heritageireland.ie and on the parish website www.ballingarry.net Every effort is made to have the house open at all hours and to facilitate visitors as much as possible. When the facility is fully developed one would envisage that the site would be more or less constantly open. Your correspondent asks thirdly: ‘Why is there no sign to indicate when the museum may be accessed?’ This is also untrue. There are two large signs at the entrance to the site from the public road which clearly state the opening times and a contact mobile phone number which is also available on the above websites. In all of this, it is important not to miss the bigger picture.
Yours Sincerely,
Dr Thomas Mc Grath,
The Park,
Ballingarry.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Tipperary
Friday 18 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
