Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #angortamor, aggregated by home.social.
Brilliant thread about the history of solidarity between Ireland and the Choctaw Nation.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2058050593139089899.html
https://www.choctawnation.com/about/history/irish-connection/
Picture is of the Kindred Spirits memorial in Cork.
#SolidarityIsBeautiful #AnGortaMór #TrailOfTears #History #LandBack
I liked this episode a lot, I thought it captured the multi-factored deterioration of the language playing out over a couple of hundred years.
While #AnGortaMór / #IrishFamine is one of the pivotal events behind the collapse of the language, it is far from the only factor
an gorta mór
Context: During the Irish Great Famine (potato famine), the Ottomans wanted to send £10,000 in aid. The British denied it as the Queen had only sent £2,000 and didn’t want her to be upstaged - so the Ottomans reduced it down to £1,000.
I'll end this here at the bombed out St Lukes Church, home to the official #liverpool #AnGortaMór memorial.
The memorial remembers the millions who died or were forced to flee Ireland. This site honours their memory and acknowledges Liverpool’s role.
Helping took many forms, including the fight for workers' rights. Born in Liverpool to Irish parents, James Larkin took the resilience of the docks and the navvies and forged it into a global labor movement. James Larkin represents the shift from the Irish being a community that needed help, to a community that led the charge for justice and equality for all workers.
The survival of the Irish in Liverpool wasn't just down to luck; it was due to the tireless work of reformers. Kitty Wilkinson, the "Saint of the Slums" from Derry, pioneered public washhouses to fight the cholera that thrived in cellar dwellings. Agnes Jones arrived later to reform the brutal workhouse infirmary, bringing nursing care and dignity to the city's most vulnerable.
Sadly, for many the escape from #Ireland presented different horrors of hunger, illness and poverty that were still too much to escape from.
Those who died in the Workhouse or the slums with nothing were often buried in unmarked communal pits. This plaque stands as a late but necessary recognition of their existence—ensuring that those who were nameless in death are finally remembered.
Ar dheis dé go raibh a n-anamacha
Many brought their faith with them. Ireland was still strongly catholic.
The 1850s marked a shift from survival to visibility. Following the Catholic Emancipation and the restoration of the hierarchy in England (1850), the Irish community began to assert its presence.
This is St Patrixks church and predates the emancipation as the oldest catholic church in Liverpool, built in 1822.
For many, they weren’t so lucky. Poverty, hunger and destitution were rampant. It's no surprise that during the Famine, Liverpool had the largest workhouse in the world. Thousands of Irish families were forced here, enduring institutionalised hardship and the intentional breaking up of families just to receive a bed and a meager meal. It was a site of immense suffering on an industrial scale.
There was then also education and learning. This is Pleasant Street School built in 1818 for the growing city needs.
Those lucky enough found work, but it wasn't easy, Thousands found work as "navvies," performing the back-breaking manual labour required to dig canals and build the railways.
Conditions in Liverpool were no better, sometimes were worse. Lace Street was notoriously cited as the most densely populated street in the UK. Families were often packed into damp, dark cellar dwellings.
Housing has been cleared away now in the post-war slum clearance
After the trauma of the crossing, the struggle turned to finding a place to exist. This is Price Street in Birkenhead, this was one of the earliest hubs for Irish settlement in Liverpool. Conditions were brutal.
The Relief Station. Arrival didn't mean safety. For the thousands who arrived with nothing, the Relief Station was the first port of call. This is where they queued for 'outdoor relief'—meager rations of food and basic support. It was the frontline of a humanitarian crisis that the city was struggling (and often failing) to manage.
#AnGortaMór #Liverpool #mastodaoine
This is Clarence Dock. This was the gateway to hope. Between 1845 and 1852, this was the specific landing stage where the steamships from Ireland arrived. 1.3 million people stepped off the boats here.
This was the view that changed everything. Sailing up the Mersey into #liverpool For over 1 million Irish people, this skyline was the first glimpse of a new life leaving behind #Ireland and. #AnGortaMór
It’s early and cold. But I’m spending today walking the #Liverpool Irish Famine Trail, tracing the footsteps of the 1.3 million people who arrived here during #AnGortaMór
I’ll post much of it here, so join me on the journey.
The Bronze Shoes
About a month ago I posted an item about the National Famine Way, at the end of which I signalled my future intention to walk the 165 km 6-day route from Strokestown to Dublin. I was subsequently contacted by a number of people warning me that I might not be up to it. They didn’t put me off, but I have come up with a plan. This week – on Wednesday in fact – I will have the injections I get every six months or so to control the arthritis in my knees. Thus fortified, I intend next week to do a trial run walk consisting of the last stage of the famine way, from Maynooth to Dublin, along the Royal Canal. That’s about 27km and will take most of a day. I’ll stop on the way for lunch and when I get to the end I can get the train back to Maynooth. And if I run walk into difficulties I can stop at one of the intermediate stations and return from there; the canal runs right alongside the railway line for most of the way. If all goes to plan I’ll take time off next year to do the whole trip from Strokestown.
Meanwhile here’s a picture of one the poignant bronze sculptures of children’s shoes placed along the way. This one is at Maynooth harbour; there are 8 others on the way to Dublin.
To learn more about these shoes, see here, and here’s a video telling the story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCir6Smn194
#anGortaMór #BronzeShoes #Dublin #Maynooth #NationalFamineWay #Strokestown #TheGreatHunger
National Famine Way
Yesterday evening on my way out for a meal I got talking to a couple of people who asked for directions. It turned out that they were on the National Famine Way which, to my shame, I hadn’t heard about. When I got home I looked up the website and decided to put it on my list of things to do. The question is whether I can fit it in before term starts near the end of September…
In a time filled with tales of hunger and hearbreak, the National Famine Way commemorates just one example of the cruelty inflicted on Ireland’s poor. No fewer than 1490 starving tenants of the Mahon estate at Strokestown were evicted from their homes then marched along the Royal Canal to Dublin, escorted by the Bailiff responsible for the evictions. At Dublin they travelled by steamer to Liverpool and then crossed the Atlantic on an assortment of coffin ships bound for Canada, about a third of them dying on the way. This was called “assisted emigration”.
The sorrowful journey of the emigrants is marked by 32 pairs of bronze sculptures of children’s shoes on the National Famine Way walking trail. There is a pair at Maynooth harbour, though I’ve never noticed it.
The 165km historical trail from Roscommon to Dublin weaves mostly along the Royal Canal , which passes through Maynooth. The trail starts in Strokestown Park at the National Famine Museum and ends at the Famine statues in Dublin Docklands, close to EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Dublin. On foot it’s a gentle six days of walking, which will give me a chance to exercise by old knees as well as staying overnight few places along the way giving me the opportunity to see a bit more of Ireland.
Maynooth is the last stop before Dublin, actually, so I’ll be able to stay at home for one night before doing the final stage of 27km. I was a bit worried about getting to the start, in deepest Roscommon, but there is a bus from Maynooth that goes direct to Strokestown where the jouney starts. There are recommendations of places to eat and places to stay on the way so it should be fairly relaxed. At any rate it will certainly be more comfortable than the journey of the poor souls that made the same trip in 1847, at the height of the Great Famine.
#1847 #anGortaMór #NationalFamineWay #RoyalCanal #TheGreatFamine #TheGreatHunger
Another fascinating Free State podcast from Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning. This time with historian Padraic X Scanlan from University of Toronto about the Great Hunger/An Gorta Mór. Well worth a listen for anyone interested in Irish/Imperialist history.
#Ireland #IrishHistory #JoeBrolly #AnGortaMór #PadraicXScanlan #UniversityOfToronto
an Drochshaol “the bad life" /“the hard times"… worst in 1847
The Great Famine, also known as the #GreatHunger (Irish: #anGortaMór [ənˠ ˈɡɔɾˠt̪ˠə ˈmˠoːɾˠ]), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in #Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852
This is absolutely fascinating, and deeply moving: donations from First Nations to Ireland during the Great Famine extended well beyond those well-known acts of generosity from the Choctaw and Cherokee Nations - from many Nations across both the so-called US & Canada.
"Indigenous Canadian famine aid was 'hidden in plain sight'"
https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0317/1502457-canada-ireland-famine/
h/t @faduda
#Mohawk #Haudenosaunee #Chippewa #Delaware #Wyandotte #Mississauga #Ojibwa #Choctaw #Cherokee #Ireland #AnGortaMór #StPatricksDay
An Drochshaol/An Gorta Mór reported was first reported on 22 December 1849. Bridget O’Donnel was a famine victim from County Clare whose story appeared in The Illustrated London News on 22 December 1849.
Evicted from her home while pregnant and sick with fever, O’Donnel endured a losing her child at birth and watching her thirteen-year-old son starve to death.
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/interview-grieving-irish-famine-mother
#Ireland #IrishHistory #AnDrochshaol #AnGortaMór #IrishFamine
On the 9 September 1845 the Dublin Evening Post officially reported that the Potato Blight had arrived in Ireland. The disease had previously been reported in Belgium, but this was the first time that it had been spotted in Ireland. It is thought that the first outbreak of Blight may have occurred in Waterford, though there is no concrete proof that it had not previously been unreported elsewhere.
#Ireland #IrishHistory #AnGortaMór #Famine #PotatoBlight #Waterford #Belgium #OnThisDay
In 2017 a monument was erected in Midleton which paid tribute to the kindness shown by the Choctaw Nation in Ireland's time of need.
In 2022 Irish lacrosse team pulled out of World Games and offered spot to a Native American team in recognition of the Choctaw donation. 2/2
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-lacrosse-team-world-games-native-american
#Ireland #IrishHistory #ChoctawNation #GreatFamine #AnGortaMór #Midleton #Cork
On 23 March 1847, the Choctaws Nation took up a donation, raising approximately $170 ($5,000 in today's money), and sent it to the town of Midleton, County Cork for famine relief.
The donation came shortly after the Choctaw Nation had embarked on the Trail of Tears and the selfless nature of the gesture has created an everlasting bond between Irish and Native American people. 1/2
#Ireland #IrishHistory #ChoctawNation #GreatFamine #AnGortaMór #Midleton #Cork
https://aje.io/dsj94u?update=2731510
The World knows this is illegal and needs to stop #IDFplanters now
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/25/two-month-old-palestinian-boy-dies-of-hunger-amid-israels-war-on-gaza
#AnGortaMor #ClearingThePlains #Holodomor #Dekulakization #Holocausts #Malthusianism #Maronites #Villagisation #DenialPolicies #ZeroYears #Gaza
The World knows this is illegal and needs to stop #IDFplanters now
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/25/two-month-old-palestinian-boy-dies-of-hunger-amid-israels-war-on-gaza
#AnGortaMor #ClearingThePlains #Holodomor #Dekulakization #Holocausts #Malthusianism #Maronites #Villagisation #DenialPolicies #ZeroYears #Gaza
An Gorta Mór reported was first reported on 22nd December 1849. Bridget O’Donnel was a famine victim from County Clare whose story appeared in The Illustrated London News on December 22, 1849.
Evicted from her home while pregnant and sick with fever, O’Donnel endured a losing her child at birth and watching her thirteen-year-old son starve to death.
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/interview-grieving-irish-famine-mother
On the 9 September 1845 the Dublin Evening Post officially reported that the Potato Blight had arrived in Ireland. The disease had previously been reported in Belgium, but this was the first time that it had been spotted in Ireland. It is thought that the first outbreak of Blight may have occurred in Waterford, though there is no concrete proof that it had not previously been unreported elsewhere.
#Ireland #IrishHistory #AnGortaMór #Famine #PotatoBlight #Waterford #Belgium #OnThisDay
National Famine Commemoration Day 2023
#AnGortaMor
@strokestownpark @famineway
#Strokestown #Roscommon #IrelandsHiddenHeartlands
An Gorta Mór was a military, political and social construct - a tinder box created by 250 years of domination by the Crown.
Plenty of evidence that it was a happy coincidence for many who benefitted financially, or saw it as 'God's judgement' on the Irish.
We are the only country in the world with a population that is lower now than it was in 1850.
#AnGortaMór #TheGreatHuger #Ireland
The 'Irish Potato Famine' is a total misnomer. It's an injustice to all the victims. Every Irish person who believes in truth, justice & fairness should challenge that term every time it's used.
'An Gorta Mór' is literally & culturally a more appropriate name for the catastrophe.
In 2017 a monument was erected in Midleton which paid tribute to the kindness shown by the Choctaw Nation in Ireland's time of need.
In 2022 the Irish lacrosse team pulled out of the World Games and offered spot to a Native American team in recognition of the Choctaw donation. 2/2
https://www.irishcentral.com/news/irish-lacrosse-team-world-games-native-american
#Ireland #IrishHistory #ChoctawNation #NativeAmericans #GreatFamine #AnGortaMór #Midleton #Cork
On 23 March 1847, the Choctaws Nation took up a donation, raising approximately $170 ($5,000 in today's money), and sent it to the town of Midleton, County Cork for famine relief.
The donation came shortly after the Choctaw Nation had embarked on the Trail of Tears and the selfless nature of the gesture has created an everlasting bond between Irish and Native American people. 1/2
#Ireland #IrishHistory #ChoctawNation #NativeAmericans #GreatFamine #AnGortaMór #Midleton #Cork
Interesting:
“The use of a longitudinal database of Famine immigrants who initially settled in New York .. indicates that the Famine Irish had far more occupational mobility than previously recognized. Only 25% of men ended their working careers in low-wage, unskilled labor; 44% ended up in white-collar occupations of one kind or another—primarily running saloons, groceries, and other small businesses.”
Via:
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2023/01/saturday-assorted-links-389.html
@MarthaCrimson An important thread on Swedish 19th-century famine which will be instantly relatable to Irish folks in general and the Mastodaoine here in particular.
#Famine #GenerationalTrauma #Sweden #Ireland #AnGortaMór #Mastodaoine
If you can donate, maybe Ireland can again show support to First Nations, as we did during the pandemic to support Hopi & Navajo, in response to the support our ancestors received from the Cherokee during the Great Famine?
Where possible, perhaps we can also support the Lakota in their time of need, in the grip of freezing temperatures:
https://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/organizations/organizations-firstfamiliesnow/
#Ireland
#MastoDaoine
#GreatFamine
#AnGortaMór
#Lakota
#Hopi
#Navajo
#Cherokee
#MutualAid
#First Nations
#Indigenous
#Native
An Gorta Mór reported was first reported on 22nd December 1849. Bridget O’Donnel was a famine victim from County Clare whose story appeared in The Illustrated London News on December 22, 1849.
Evicted from her home while pregnant and sick with fever, O’Donnel endured a losing her child at birth and watching her thirteen-year-old son starve to death.
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/interview-grieving-irish-famine-mother
@ToniScott @valoisdubins That's a tricky one. The definition of a genocide is the 'intentional destruction of a people'. I'm not quite sure how intentional the British authorities were as opposed to being careless or negligent. On the other hand, Tim Pat Coogan argues that it was a deliberate act of genocide.
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/was-the-famine-genocide-by-the-british-28954929.html
#Ireland #IrishHistory #Great Famine #anGortaMór #TimPatCoogan