The Famine in Skibbereen

Nicholas Cummins
The Famine in Skibbereen

Nicholas Cummins writes a letter to the Duke of Wellington to express the horrific situation of famine in Ireland and the lack of relief they were receiving.

• South and West of Ireland was the suffering the worst from Famine.
o Poor soil barely fir for even potatoes and in desperate situation in fall of 1846
• Skibbereen, in remote southwest of Ireland even lacked suitable people to form the relief committee required to receive government support
o Public works were the only employment and did not pay enough to feed a family
o Two Protestant Clergymen confront Trevelyan in London and pleaded for food, but he was determined to adhere to government policy and no food was sent.
• Two weeks later Nicholas Cummins, a magistrate from Cork visits the area and reports his horrific findings
o He reported to authorities without success and writes letter to Duke of Wellington with a copy to The Times (the most influential newspaper in London)
o The letter was published on 24th of Dec. 1846 and Skibbebereen became a symbol of the famine disaster
o His letter received wide circulation in the U.S. in 1847 to raise money for Irish relief
• Descriptions of Skibbereen
o The people appeared as skeletons and ghastly figures
o People were found too weak to move those who had died next to them
o Their cloths were reduced to nothing but mere rags
o Families were found dead lying together
o The whole population was suffering from fever and starvation