Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-04-15
Terrible destitution i'm ireland.

1CEFtOAe RESTITUTION IN nd.
The Dublin Ecening Post, of the 10Th
ult., has a letter from a special reporter,
who a was, short period previous, se~ntinto
the country of donegal, Ireland, induced
to it by an appeal from the Catholic clergy
of the county, in behalf of the suffering
%peasantry, whose distresses, had been
described as awful in the extreme. The
reporter of the Post says in his letter ::
Gweedore and Cloughaniely, the dis
tricts in question, embrace a territory of
mountain and bog, with an occasional
strip of arabic land, lying on the north
west of Donegal. The weather at the
the time of the visit was very severe, and
the ground covered with snow. On
reaching the scene of restitution, says
the reporter, 81 perceived perhaps one
hundred and fifty persons, male and fe-
male, waiting with their petitions and
memorials in hand, to be presented for
relief. OF these the majority were ma.
irons, barefoot and without stockings,
and some of those who possessed the
luxury of stockings had not shoes or
brogues. The bare limbs of these wom-
en- appeared to be swollen and covered
with cEilblains."
He visited some of their houses-if
houses they can be called. Here is a
description II entered one on all-fours,
through a hole in the wall, and there 1
found an aged matron. Father Doher-
ty preceded and led the way, or I dare
say 1 should have been denied admit
$500 A. Az ohalo 80 -o,~ onl loek,
tuition. She was seated before a fire on
the hearth, the turf of which had been
dug by the male members of the family.
There was no window or aperture to ad-
NIT the light of day, save the hole by
which Ientered. There, and elsewhere,
there was no time to be lost. The in
quiry was proceeded with by Father
Doherty, who showed me the bed on
which some of the family lay, and here
is 4 true description the head of the
bed was in the corner, a few sods of
earth at the head and foot to support it;
a board for the side, with a few sticks
thrown across; one end inserted in the
wall, and the other end supported by
stones and turf. There was no bed-tick;
no clothing, with the exception of a
wooden rag, which could not bear the
name of a blanket, o was it sufficient
in size for a single grown adult-cer-
tainly not fit to cover a person of full
growth. Here in this hovel, unfit for
the habitation of a single human crea-
ture, there was seven persons-I think
the number was seven.'
OF their food he says: "In another
house we asked what their food was, and
kho-axIih1to - r,oF,1 not NrhSaI contain
ed the meal for the family. This was
chopped or pounded potatoes in a pulp,
and with this pulp repeated, and with
some sea-weed which they exhibited in
a wooden vessel, called a noggin, they
made up their dinner and supper in one
meal. This system of regimen certainly
cannot present the idea of Baron Penne-
fathers '~opulence.'
The two following pictures of distress,
he says, apply to hundreds of cases
-The day was awfully severe, and all
who would remain inside doors without
the pressing necessity Of going abroad
we're huddled about the fire. In one of
these domicilcs there was a female, and
she was one of many in the fifteen or
twenty houses I-explored in this part of
Gweedore. She was about sixteen, and
when called upon by Father Doherty to
com forward, she advanced with an air
of confidence, perfectly unconscious of
the gracefulness and beauty of her form.
This poor, helpless child was not clad,
unless you could call a shapeless gar
ment, thrown over without inner cover
ing, clothing. But in this house there
was another female, older than the one
whom 1 have just now introduced
This girl was about twenty, or therea-
bouts, This poor creature had neither
shoe nor stocking, and avoiding the
presence of strangers she shrunk away
backgnto the obscure corner in the dark,
from which she had been reluctantly
drawn by the priest she revered."