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SCHOOLS AROUND THE country will fall silent for sixty seconds today in remembrance of those who died in the Famine.
Almost one hundred and seventy years since the start of the Famine which killed an estimated one million people living in Ireland, Ireland is marking it by holding a minute’s silence in tribute to those who suffered loss.
Students in all primary and secondary schools have been asked to pause for one minute at noon today.
Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan, who is also the chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee, thanked the schools in advance.
“We are very grateful for their support and for their continued willingness to show respect and remembrance for all those who suffered during the famine,” he said.
“The participation of our younger generations ensures our own history is remembered and it also raises awareness of current hunger issues around the world”.
The country’s National Famine Commemoration will be held on Sunday in Strokestown in Roscommon, where the National Famine Museum is located. The town was badly affected by the Famine.
Deenihan has asked all people of Irish heritage to observe the minute’s silence on Sunday to respect “our ancestors who perished, suffered and emigrated during the Great Irish Famine”.
The Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1849, left around one million people died, with a similar amount emigrating to escape the disease and hunger.
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Still one of the greatest acts of genocide in the history of the modern world. The victims should never be forgotten,I personally think this is a great idea.
The sad thing about this is that with the new Junior cert huge numbers of children will know nothing about the famine as history will be no longer taught in many schools as the government rushes to emphasise the STEM subjects. In the schools with history the teacher can teach whatever they deem to be important or interesting.
There have been larger genocidal killings in more recent times, some are even taking place today. But yeah, let’s worry about ‘da fanim’
@Stephen – indeed Stephen and the whole truth needs to be taught to children about what this was more than a failure of a crop. The whole country should fall silent and remember that the most populated country in Europe was decimated and its people destined to roam the world. The British should also fall silent and express shame for the work of their ancestors.. if only for a minute.
@ Derek, over 1 million unavoidable deaths, not to mention the countless numbers that perished on journeys to get away from it. But yeah lets worry about ‘da fanim’ – muppet!!
Christine Kinealy, a Great Hunger scholar, lecturer, and Drew University professor, relates her findings: Almost 4,000 vessels carried food from Ireland to the ports of Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London during 1847, when 400,000 Irish men, women and children died of starvation and related diseases. She also writes that Irish exports of calves, livestock (except pigs), bacon and ham actually increased during the Famine. This food was shipped under British military guard from the most famine-stricken parts of Ireland; Ballina, Ballyshannon, Bantry, Dingle, Killala, Kilrush, Limerick, Sligo, Tralee and Westport. A wide variety of commodities left Ireland during 1847, including peas, beans, onions, rabbits, salmon, oysters, herring, lard, honey, tongues, animal skins, rags, shoes, soap, glue and seed. The most shocking export figures concern butter. Butter was shipped in firkins, each one holding 9 gallons. In the first nine months of 1847, 56,557 firkins were exported from Ireland to Bristol, and 34,852 firkins were shipped to Liverpool which correlates to 822,681 gallons of butter exported to England from Ireland during nine months of the worst year of the Famine.The poor did not have sufficient money to obtain the food produced and the British government facilitated its exportation [67]
The British should hold a minutes silence in shame? It wasn’t my fault or my ancestors fault, they were starving too. My ancestors should not be held accountable for what the elite did. The poor British people suffered too, at the hands of their fellow countrymen.
I hold no shame I had nothing to do with it, a descendent should not be punished for their parents/ grand parent/ great grand parents failures.
@lily – I was of course referring to the government, monarchist descendants.. I wasn’t clear. ‘British’ being a catch all term for the authorities.
At this time my Irish ancestors from Limerick had left their country for different reasons. But as a French citizen, I start to learn and put my attention on what happened.
So thank you for this work of memory.
In which mental position are you?
Sorry for my English not good enough to come into such a subject but I feel very much concerned.
Best thoughts.
Matthieu.
Bravo
So, because there have been larger ones nobody is allowed to mention this one Derek ? This had a profound and lasting effect on the nation and was an injustice of epic proportions. We are all products of our history. You should be ashamed of yourself. Nobody here is ‘worrying’ about ‘da fanim’ or saying that it is all that matters. They are saying that it is fitting and appropriate to hold in remembrance what happened back then and honour those that died needlessly at the hands of oppressors. Ironically the Irish are usually heavily represented when it comes to foreign Aid in both fiscal and practical terms and are always there to support oppressed peoples such as the current apartheid regime in Israel . Judging by your comments you seem to have some inverted snobbery thing going on where it’s only cool to be concerned about current conflicts or those that happened in places such as Cambodia ? Do you suppose people on here are unaware of the Pol Pot regime and the Killing Fields or any number of other mass murders ? The Irish are more politically aware and involved internationally than you seem to give them credit for and judging by what you say you sound like a silly student who has just come back from a gap year and thinks he knows it all. Please read up before you embarrass yourself further
ps , If you’re going to try and mock the Irish by misspelling ‘the famine’ to ‘da fanim’ to make them sound stupid then at least misspell ‘famin’ the right way . you’re just showing your own ignorance up
The Great Famine description is inaccurate. There was plenty of food in the form of crops etc but the cold hearted, cruel elite had it shopped out under armed guard and convoys.
I hope the children will be told that the British queen at the time gave £5 to famine relief while the same day gave £100 to the battersea dog home.
She donated a fiver to both but don’t let accuracy stop you. Either way it’s an insult but I’d have a bigger problem with the irish exporters
She actually gave £2000 of her own money. It’s a pity that these silly myths contaminate such a serious matter.
Totally inaccurate Galwaybay
For those who don’t believe it was genocide just take a listen to this Christy Moore song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKH1vbl1b1g&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Is Christy Moore a historical commentator now? No, hes a hillbilly singer. Taught so
taught so? – i think you mean ‘thought’.
No taught.
This is what happens when you keep skipping school Frank
My point is that as people starved,were forced from their homes and had to flee a country riddled by famine,poverty,disease and hardship the British absentee landlords and government were exporting food and supplies by the ship load out of the country. I never said CM is a historian ,however the song accurately reflects my point that it was a contrived act of genocide by the British to rid Ireland of its people. As 100′s of thousands of people took to the roads starving looking for food to feed themselves and their kids the country was being raped of its livestock,crops and by products. Irish people were found dead by the side of the road ,their mouths green from eating grass ,their children dead in their arms,starved and frozen to death. As our people,yes OUR people were MURDERED by the British,their swollen bellies empty the bellies of British ships were low in the water,their bellies full with IRISH food and goods. This was only 170 years ago least we forget maybe what 5/6 generations ago . The truth is that An Gortha Mor was as heinous an act of genocide as was the US genocide of the native American Indians or the Spanish genocide of the Incas and Aztecs . Our country,kids and future generations should never be allowed forget what happened,our ancestors should never be allowed to be forgotten and deserve a mark of respect . And yes the British people should be made aware of their countries greatest act of cruelty and mass murder ever inflicted on a nation & its people.
This is what is wrong with Irish people. Just keep drilling this horse muck into your children. Then your children grow up confused supporting English football teams but hating England. Confused? You better believe it
Frank you better head now if you want to beat the que at the post office
Thanks Glen smart boy but it was actually Tuesday. And I am doing a nixer now. I will not pay for corrupt governments mistakes.
I’m doing a nixer also
I think you know her
Thats funny Glen. Almost as funny as me getting up on one of your Irish women every night. She likes the way I can speak properly and don’t smell like whiskey and potatoes
Whoever learned you to speak all proper done the bestest job ever frank .
What’s that? A Liverpool fan complaining about milking a tragedy? Well I never…
I speak with a scouse accent. Understandable like. Unlike Irish people when they open there mouth and crap falls out. Your accents are rubbish mate
Lovin’ your work, Frank! Quality trolling is such a rarity these days.
Aawwwriite aawwwritte , kyeaaaaam down kyeaaaaam down
Are you 12 Frank ? Seriously, you clearly hate the Irish so I’m at a loss to figure out why you’d subscribe to an Irish site ?
Famine? Its was mass murder. A blight doesnt reduce a population of 8 million down to 4.5 million.
Anyone see the twisted irony in that Pic above the thread?
Also, take a look at this.
http://www.avnproduction.com/spaw2/uploads/images/iremapa.jpg
Jason, Do you not realise that there was also mass emigration at the same time?
People emigrated because there was no food! And many died on the boats while trying to emigrate from starvation and lack of nourishment. Think it’s quite an insult to try and belittle those who had to suffer through that. We’re only too lucky.
Mark, about a million did. The rest starved to death. Do the math.
There was no famine. Ireland produced plenty of food during those years.
If true it is a stupid notion. Just back from a trip to Cambodia, the genocide that took place there is something that deserves a moments silence. Makes you wonder how such atrocities in the modern world can be allowed to happen and makes you reflect on what is happening right now in North Korea, Central African Republic etc and yet we do very little to highlight it or stop it.
Why not commemorate both Derek – why are you so hostile to your own peoples past? Most people do not realise the horror that the famine inflicted on their own people (like you) perhaps if they did they would see what goes on in their own world today.
Yes Derek but these were our people , when we lost half our population , we all know the horrors in the world since then , we’re asked to give one minute to remember OUR own people who starved to death , let us also remember the Turkish people , the Choctaw Indian people and the Quakers who did help and of course Queen Victoria’s £5 .
Kate , the New York Jewish community made a big contribution at the time too.
Am I correct that the Rothschilds bankers also gave money during the famine?
Perhaps you should spend some time thinking about the comments you’re making today Derek. Cambodia should never be forgotten , along with Armenia, Stalin’s Russia, Rwanda etc. But tell me, why are these more exotic horrors to be remembered but not Ireland’s ? Are you Irish ? If you are (then you should know better ) I would suggest there is some sort of self-loathing issue going on here and if not then educate yourself as to what happened on your doorstep and stop mocking people who would be first to those places you’re talking about to help others.
It is vitally important that our young people remember this tragic period in our history. The hope being that they make their best endeavours to ensure famine, genocide and misrule are not allowed to occur anywhere on this planet.
Maybe the kids should see at what a child suffering in famine looks like, dressed in rags, pot bellied and wiry hair growing put of the face. That would make a lasting impression.
Firstly it wasn’t genocide and to each children it was is just plain wrong.
Secondly I haven’t heard a word about this and I don’t expect it’ll be observed where I work.
Alan, it was attempted genocide. Yes the potato crop failed, but it failed all across Europe. This pushed food prices up. Ships of Irish crops and livestock were exported under armed guard, for sale abroad. The British authorities refused some foreign aid because it wanted rid of the native catholic Irish population.
Complete nonsense but sure believe it if it makes you feel better.
It’s not nonsense it’s fact, might want to get yourself a history book.
Wasn’t it the corn laws not getting repealed and the laissez faire attitude going overboard that caused this
Lack of crop rotation
Btw I know WW1 and 2, Nazi death camps, civil wars all happened but never forget we are Irish and this is where the 1848 famine occurred.
all down to a land bubble caused by the corn laws which packed more and more people into smaller plots of land, luckily the Irish learned from this and made sure never to have a land bubble again due to the potential consequences….o wait
There was No Famine in Ireland. Seventy five percent of land was under Cash Crop. And that was Exported under armed guard to the UK.
Can anyone here tell me how the famine personally affected them?
You could add the ideas of Malthus
I think these were around during this era
Correct and indeed the main cause of people’s deaths. Malthusian economics, not genocide or anti Catholicism or anti Irishness is exactly why it happened.
This is how we should do Famine Memorial Day. Massive sirens, church bells etc. Let the whole country pause for just one minute.
It starts around 30′seconds into it. Traffic stops pretty much, people stop shopping. It is a very moving experience to watch while there, We should do the same here in Ireland
I’ve never come across as many trolls on such a small site in my life wtf?
Are they getting rid of the Angelus?
Lets all get Adam If he had not messed around with eve we would all be living in paradise ,does anyone know any previous tragic situation that we can drag up
Cain and Abel
Sodom and Gomorrah
Crucifixion of Jesus
Wait, I know this one…
Election of Bertie?
Jesus lads why is there such hostility for showing a bit of respect for those who lost their lives in a tragic way.
Lots of things like this are commemorated this way, why is it such a bad thing to just acknowledge or history and heritage.
What a great picture, Ulster Bank HQ in banckground. Maybe a hint who is going to cause next famine?
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