Eviction at Drimnagh, County Roscommon By Jody Moylan The townland of Drimnagh, near the village of Tulsk (and in the Ogulla electoral division), now much under forestry, was the site of wholesale clearance and eviction in 1845, the first year of the Famine. Thomas J. Barton was the landlord (absentee). The Ordnance Survey historic 6-inch … Continue reading Eviction at Drimnagh, County Roscommon
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The Irish Famine Eviction Project continues to receive information on a daily basis from individuals and local history groups. David Hallahan has sent the following information from an essay ‘Ballysaggart Estate: Eviction, Famine and Conspiracy’ by Patrick Feeney (Decies Vol. 27, Autumn 1984) which describes how in May 1847 the Cork Examiner sent a reporter … Continue reading Eviction at the Kiely-Ussher estate in West Waterford
Much of the information below is drawn from the pages of the Limerick and Clare Examiner whose proprietor did investigative journalism work in relation to the evictions which were being carried out across the country and in particular in Meelick, county Clare. His name was James MacCarthy, member of a prosperous family in the contiguous … Continue reading Clare & Limerick Evictions, 1848-1850
‘I found the girl lying in a wretched little shed, built up within the open wallsteads of the house from which the family had been lately evicted’. In July 1849 the tragic case of Biddy McLaughlin was brought before the Buncrana Petty Sessions in county Donegal. Few in attendance, or indeed those reading about the … Continue reading The tragic case of Biddy McLaughlin and the Buncrana evictions
Evictions and clearances were widespread in county Kerry during the Famine, none more so than on the properties owned by Trinity College Dublin. One of the biggest landowners in the country, eviction soared on the college estates as middlemen were pushed out during the 1840s. In 1849 the Cork Examiner sent a reporter to Kerry … Continue reading MAKING GHASTLY HAVOC: EVICTION IN KERRY
With over 60 regional and national newspapers now available on the Irish Newspaper Archive website (https://www.irishnewsarchive.com ) there exists the potential to examine in great detail the lived experiences of individuals, families and the wider community during the Great Famine. It is no secret that family historians, genealogists and others are often left frustrated by … Continue reading Genealogy and the Irish Famine Eviction Project
In September 1847 the county Carlow based priest, Fr James Maher, appealed for help across all classes and religions as another year of Famine gripped Ireland. Maher was a staunch critic of evictions and openly criticised landlords who engaged in such practice. It was hardly surprising given the level of eviction in the Carlow area … Continue reading ‘I speak of what these eyes have seen, these hands have touched, these ears heard’: Fr James Maher of Carlow
Tackling the smallholders: The notorious George Garvey Throughout the course of the Great Famine George Garvey served as agent to a number of estates in King’s County (Offaly) including the Holmes estate at Moneygall; the Drought at Whigsborough; the Moony estate at Doon; the Norbury estate at Durrow; the Toler estate at Parsonstown (now Birr); … Continue reading Tackling the smallholders: The notorious George Garvey
On a single day in June 1846, during the proceedings of the Ballinrobe quarter sessions in county Mayo, thirty-three ejectment notices were issued. In total these ‘notices to quit’ affected more than 350 people and in some cases entire townlands. There was nothing extraordinary about the number of ejectment notices which were issued ion this occasion in Ballinrobe, … Continue reading James Cuffe: A County Mayo Evictor
In May 1846 Michael Corboy of Cullenwaine, near Shinrone in King’s County (Offaly) was brought before the Moneygall Petty Sessions for using insulting and threatening behaviour towards a landlord . Henry Smith of Clareen, near Shinrone summoned young Corboy for insulting behaviour and having ‘curled as wattle’ over his head following the eviction of his mother, … Continue reading What happened the Widow Corboy?
