Page Title

For up to the minute news in Ireland, check out Ireland's National Broadcaster Radio Telefis Eireann RTE

Visit: IrishEmigrant.com for Irish news from the Boston area.

From The February 2012 ISOC Newsletter

EMIGRATION CHÁIRDE GAEIL

It's An Irish Song (from a version sung by Mick Maloney)

Irish singers have adopted "The Leaving of Liverpool" even if there is nothing overtly Irish in the lyrics. Their justification has been that Liverpool was the main port of embarkation for Irish emigrants going to America and Canada, especially during the famine years of 1845 to 1851.

The Leaving of Liverpool

Farewell to Prince's Landing Stage Ensign Terrace and Park Lane For I fear it will be a long, long time Before I see you again.

Chorus: So Fare thee well my own true love And when I return united we will be It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me But my darling when I think of thee.

Chorus: Oh I'm bound for California By way of stormy Cape Horn And I will write you a letter, my love When I'm homeward, homeward bound.

Chorus: I have signed aboard a Yankee clipper ship Davy Crocket is her name And Burgess is the Captain of her And they say she's a floating shame.

Chorus: I have sailed with Burgess once before He's a skipper I know right well If a man is a sailor he'll get along But if not well he's sure in hell.

Chorus: Oh the sun is on the harbor And I wish I could remain But I fear it will be a long, long time Before I return again.

Chorus:

Here's a story from Strokestown in Co. Roscommon that bears on the issue.

The mansion and grounds of Strokestown Park were laid out in the 1730's by Thomas Mahon. Major Denis Mahon inherited the estate during the time of the Great Famine, but found himself saddled with a burdensome debt. The grounds were divided into plots too small to feed the tenants even before the potato blight came, so no one could keep up rent payments, let alone pay arrears. Major Mahon's agent, John Ross Mahon, decided that the estate must be consolidated and put under tillage in order to earn a profit, but getting rid of the tenants would not be possible. They would all end up in the local workhouses, and the estate would have to pay for their upkeep. Financial calculations showed him a way out of the problem. It would be cheaper to evict all the tenants and then pay for their transportation to America.

In May and June of 1847, nearly 900 men, women, and children were sent to Liverpool. Major Mahon provided 24,000 pounds to hire several ships to convey his former tenants to America. Conditions on the "coffin ships" were terrible and many of the passengers perished during the trip.

In November 1847, Major Mahon was shot and killed by two men from the area. The men were caught and hanged for the crime, but local po-lice had to be reinforced by a troop of Dragoons to keep the peace. John Ross Mahon continued his policy of eviction and transportation until all his tenants were removed.

Strokestown stayed in the Mahon family until 1979. In 1994 President Mary Robinson opened the Famine Museum in the stable yard of the old mansion. The museum tells the stories of both tenants and land-lords.

The Famine Museum at Strokestown Park is twinned with the Irish Memorial National Historic Site, Grosse Ile, Quebec, Canada. Over 5,500 Irish people who emigrated during Ireland's Great Famine are buried in mass graves at Grosse Ile.

Ireland's Great Famine lasted from 1845 until 1851 and was due to a parasitic fungus that caused potatoes to rot in the ground and become inedible. It is thought that the blight was imported into Belgium in 1843 in a shipment of potatoes that had been infected in Mexico. The fungus then spread throughout Europe, arriving in Ireland in 1845. Potatoes were the staple diet of Ireland's livestock as well as many of the country's poorer families, and when the crop failed, one quarter of Ireland's population (nearly two million people) either died or were forced to emigrate, most of them to America. Many landlords were sympathetic and did all in their power to alleviate the suffering, but others used the situation to clear their estates of unprofitable tenants.