Why remembering Famine victims has an indelible place in Irish psyche

On 30th May 1847, a contingent of 110 emigrants from County Meath set sail across the Atlantic to Canada in a ship called the Ajax. They were escaping the Great Famine (An Gorta Mór) which saw one million people dying of starvation and disease and another million desperately seeking escape from a country literally on its knees. The captain, a severe man, was accompanied by his wife who was said to be the very essence of kindness. The sole cabin passenger, Robert Whyte (very little is known about him, or even if that was his real name) kept a diary of his experiences on board and it has given an insight into the experiences suffered by emigrants more than 160 years ago. Ted Greene, in his book - 'Drogheda: Its Place in Irish History' - relates how Whyte remarked that the passengers were dressed in their best clothes and presented a better appearance than he had expected. However, within a week, several went down with illness and the "Mistress was occupied all day attending the numerous calls upon her. She already regretted having come on the voyage, but her kind heart did not allow her to consult her ease". Owing to the slow progress, food rations and drinking water had to be curtailed and when a sample of drinking water was shown to the captain, it was "quite foul, muddy and bitter from having been in a wine cask...some of the casks were beyond remedy, and the contents, when pumped out, resembled nauseous ditch water". A week later, the diarist recorded more passengers having fallen ill, enough to "terrify one having the charge of so many human beings, likely to fall prey to the unchecked progress of the dreadful disease". Others complained to the captain of "starvation and want of water for their sick wives and children" and they threatened to break into the provision store. They were subdued when he fired a blunderbuss over their heads. "It was awful how sudden some were stricken. A little child, playing with his companions, suddenly fell down and, for some time, was sunk in a deadly torpor, from which, when he awoke, he commenced to scream violently and wreak in convulsive agony. A poor woman who was warming a drink at the fire for her husband also dropped down quite senseless and was borne to her berth....It made my heart bleed to listen to the calls of 'water, for God's sake, water'." The sick list continued to grow longer as the Ajax yawed in mid-Atlantic with its empty sails flapping. Four weeks out, the figure for those down with fever was 30, soon it was 37 and by 6th July almost half the passengers were sick. Corpses were unceremoniously slid silently over the side and, without Last Rites to avoid undue distress on board. The normal time taken for an Atlantic crossing was about 3.5 weeks but these emigrants from Meath had to ensure all of 57 days before the Ajax finally dropped anchor in the St Lawrence River with its depleted cargo of humanity. When the annual National Commemoration of the Famine was held in Drogheda earlier this month, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that part of the legacy of the Famine is that Ireland has become a leading global advocate in the fight against hunger. During the commemoration, emblems of the Famine were displayed, including a potato, a soup kitchen ration card, a boat ticket to Liverpool and a small section of a thatched roof. Prayers were led by clerics from seven religions, followed by a humanist reflection. Mr Kenny said that for Irish people nowadays, food security and humanitarian aid are not just political matters. "We make them our personal business because they run so deep in the Irish heart. It is that generational memory that supports Irish Aid and all aid agencies to bring not just food, but hope, self-reliance and dignity across the developing world. "In addition to addressing the immediate needs of those who are victims of natural and man-made disasters, Ireland is also working to address the root cause of hunger and has become a leading global advocate in the fight against hunger." In memory of those Meath people who had to leave Irish shores to escape hunger we should, as the Taoiseach urged us to do, keep the memory of the victims of the Great Famine safe and pass it on, intact and alive, to the next generation.