National Famine Commemoration 2013:

Community Meeting

Kilrush Golf Club

7:00pm

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Agenda:

• Distribution of comment cards.
• Exhibition: entitled The Famine in Clare (1845-1852). (Originally displayed in Áras Contae an Chláir for National Heritage Week in August 2012. Compiled by the County Archivist Rene Franklin. Will be displayed in Kilrush Library before the National Famine Commemoration.)
• Video 1: entitled The Kilrush Famine Commemoration 2013 (Short Documentary) (9:58. Available for viewing on YouTube. 1,540 views in three weeks. Produced and directed by Neil Hynes and narrated by Paddy Waldron. Submitted to the National Famine Commemoration Committee in September 2012 in support of Kilrush’s application to host the event.)
• Video 2: footage of previous National Famine Commemorations supplied by Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
• Welcome by Máiréad O'Brien, Mayor of Kilrush.
• Short presentation by Paddy Waldron, PRO, Kilrush and District Historical Society.
• P. J. Murrihy will sing his new song to mark the event
• Suggestions from the floor: one minute each, parish by parish

History of National Famine Commemoration:

• Began as an informal commemoration (see Wikipedia)
• A formal State event since 2009:
  • 2009 Skibbereen (Munster)
  • 2010 Murrisk (Connacht)
  • 2011 Clones (Ulster)
  • 2012 Drogheda (Leinster)
  • 12 May 2013 Kilrush (Munster)
• Venues chosen by National Famine Commemoration Committee
• Ceremony organised by Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
• President (Michael D. Higgins 2013, Mary McAleese 2011) or Taoiseach (Enda Kenny 2012), but not both, now always leads the official representation
• Also attended by Army and Diplomatic Corps (wreath-laying ceremony)
• Programme of events leading up to National Famine Commemoration Day organised by local community
• Drogheda programme: Front (6.3MB) Back (5.8MB)
• International Famine Commemoration also held annually - Sydney, Australia - Sunday, 25 August 2013
• Kilrush Town Council and Clare County Council have set up a steering group and various subgroups to plan and organise the programme of events
• All local groups and organisations are invited to help out

Kilrush and The Great Famine

• Kilrush Poor Law Union (PLU) formally declared on 1 August 1838 (see Workhouses.org)
• The Board of Guardians of the Union (elected and ex-officio Poor Law Guardians) administered local government and raised local taxation
• County Councils and Town Councils came later
• Kilrush Workhouse was built within the surviving boundary wall where St. Patrick's Terrace stands today
• Workhouse received its first admissions on 9 July 1842
• The starving and the evicted from throughout the PLU came to the workhouse in Kilrush to seek indoor or outdoor relief
• Board of Guardians, chaired by Crofton Moore Vandeleur, couldn't cope, and were stripped of their powers
• From November 1847 until 3 September 1850 Captain (later Sir) Arthur Edward Kennedy (1810-1883) held the position of Poor Law Inspector in Kilrush
• His detailed reports to Dublin and London are an excellent description of events and conditions in West Clare
• The Illustrated London News also brought the situation in Kilrush in 1849/50 to world attention
• Its iconic sketches from West Clare illustrate every modern work on the Famine
• "Kilrush still resonates as one of the places that epitomized all that was horrific about the Great Famine (An Drochshaol)" --- Cormac Ó Gráda, UCD
• The 1838 PLU boundaries are slightly unclear
• comprised 13 electoral divisions
• larger than district electoral divisions used since restructuring on 22 February 1850
• probably coincided with the corresponding civil parishes (NB spelling differences)
  • Kilballyoan
  • Kildysert
  • Kilfidduan
  • Kilkee
  • Killard
  • Killiner
  • Killofin
  • Kilmacdooaun
  • Kilmihil
  • Kilmurry [probably Kilmurry Ibrickane]
  • Kilrush
  • Knock [probably Kilmurry McMahon]
  • Moyarta
• i.e. the parishes of Kilmurry Ibrickane, Kilmihil, Kilfiddane (Coolmeen) and Killadysert and everything to the south and west as far as Loop Head
• i.e. parishes numbered 40,60,62 and 64 on the Map of Civil Parishes of County Clare
• Part of the original Kilrush PLU and part of the original Ennis PLU became the new Kildysart PLU on 22 February 1850
• Each of these 13 parishes is invited to host at least one event during the run-up to 12 May 2013, locally produced and/or by a visiting lecturer or performer

Facebook page

2013 Programme of Events

It is envisaged that a ten-day Programme of Events for the Kilrush Famine Commemoration will begin with a launch on Friday 3 May 2013

We welcome your ideas for this Programme of Events, for example:

Will the National Famine Commemoration complement or clash with any existing local events?

How can we maximise publicity for these events?