New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-03-12
THE NORTH OF IRELAND.
COUNTY DONEGAL.

This is tho extreme northwesteily county ana
the letters are from four OF the most destitute par
isles:
KIIIYBEGs Feb. 22-May ask you TO make known
20 our American friends the Of misery and destu-
ton that so extensively pervades all parts OF this parish
the greater pare Of forty-sM years I'D inc
parish and parish priest, and have seen
morning 70 approach the sad afi teton with which are
now visited
Opr country has been sinking fast into deep gulf for
the last three years. Of which amount OF private
charity Will II. The failure OF the crops LOT
the past three years has caused a deficit OF some
s350C0.OOO sterling, sI2OO0O0O Of which Is placed
to the loss sustained by the failure Of the potato crop
The population comprises 3,16S persons equal
10 GOO families-prindpay small farmers, one-haii
tho number paying 81 rent and the others from
81 to $40 per annum. The quality Of the soil is poor
There DO market for labor and the men are prinoi-
paly employed on the scany labor their farms and
IN the fisheries We have no employment for the
women. Formerly every cottage had ns spinning
wheel for making wool.en thread ana men yam 1
tor the Weaving OF cloth and llnel. hu1 'ills
important br 'nch OF industry mas no" usap-
peared, owing to the Introduction OF machh-
cry and Inc erection or arEe a"otoll's ID ~ r
The looms have been broken up Tor fire wood our orI
manu- actue, have been crushed out by phrtia essi
lion 10 favor England Out o. popuih"on ~ oOo lall
lies IN paisn. 500 families rave received r. c iron
pre plunged INTO 80 much debt that amount o. pubic
charity VIII apply d sufficient remedy
Here are q lew instances OF the misery around usi
Firsi-Edward Mcclure. Reecorbin has small patch
o grounds Gftv years OF age wife forty Of ami5i
n bunch OF rags 20 cover them nhht; two blocks of
wood and od dresser iorm tue entire STOCK
OF furnituro; no fuel except wet Or0mClcsi 10
food except what they received from the Relief Commit
Sec9nd-Phenm Gallagher. Roughri. ten Of family
vile paralYE the .ast seven years small paich ol
mountain LAID no food, no iu,i no bedding DO dotlng
Third-Micky ODonneIl, Gortnagolon. three Of lam
fv wife pas 6nY AN OH sack uel. food.
For!h-Tuomas Gala CHER. Conan. eleven OF fam
fly, Of them we'll, bass mails tea round them Tor
FiffaEPat Gfiespr Carric1atugart his wife ana
I've ~ hut formerly byre FOR calyesj entrauoe TO 10
three feet hign eutre space within 10 feet by feet
furniture consisting rckoty char. 10 bed, no bed
ding but some straw scattered IN corner Their only
moi cspaRle of work. JAMES STEPHENS, L. T.
CIoUMAyr, Feb 22.-All the people with the eXcep-
tlon Of nine or ten families occupy land. The average
SIZE Of the farms about four acres but many have not
more than two in which they pat crop. Out Of
an entire population OF 1000. numbering about fifty
families nearly 400 have got lief AFTER due inyesu-
gallon into their circumstances, and eau say from
personal knowledge that almost 100 more are suffering
intense want. There are 200 families whose Only
food FOR weeks has been indian meal prepared win
water in the form OF stirabOut. and sometimes for
variety, IN the form Of cake. They won d not com
plan even II they had sufciency Of tins food. poor
woman the wife OF Dan Doherty, Of Atabal, came to
ME about fortnight ago she had nine children. /
kne " the family quite wel The house IN which eleven
Of family live Is made up Of single apartment there
is no furniture Of the rudest kind, except couple
OF stoos and an apology for bed. with few old rage
10 do the place OF covering. THIS woman, say
10 me and tod me her family had nothing to eat
The only thing they possessed was couple OF hens
which she sold 10 get a little meal was called 20 attend
man Who the doctor declared, dying OF dropsy.
brought Oh from want Of nourishment. The man was
rolled up In what once had been shawl THIS and
Old sheet was the only covering he had on him. The
.T..e . ind NJ he
children were literally nakei ana gathered around
few TmOuIdering sods.
be 80 very hard but there no large FARMS AID each
family Il aole 10 90 Tne w"tk o. neh owl ,''o lnrn
present been accumuai ng Tor the last three
peers The immediate cause Is the great failure
nnfato cr,p the other principal failure
Of the English labor market and the decrease III the
urice Of every Kind Of stock
kbonf 900 men 20 annually 10 the harvest in Eng
land these bring home on an AVERAGE IS man; last
wear they did not average above ~ man. Several
families along the shore few wears ago made from
$40 10 2l2 year on kelpi last year they made
is superseded. Another great cause-and the
most prominent 0ne-is S t e Al Tue
ual Drain OF $4,000 from the place without any
returns tsad moreover the landlords have made
efforts far TO relieve the dress-at least as far
my knowledge goes. There l. much need II food and
seed seed not supplied to the destitute farmer a
j. MAGUIRE T. +.
KtLCOR Feb. 23.-The extent OF this parish is about
hirt, five square miles. the greater potion of which Ia
occuper u the parish is only one acre There ESQ
families with an average OF five members in each. or
these 800 families In want bordering state OF
actnal starvation. We have had funds TO relieve
36O families Tor the past few weeks. This relief
a. oiven IN indian meal, oDe-lalf stone to each
member OF Il family weekly Allowances scanty
supply when known that this ia their only store OF
proysion and even that uncertain; besides GER
y that one family in thirty has not the luxury OF milk
to use with their IAdian meal porridge We have then
about 40 families seeking relief 10 whom unable
TO extend any ard whatsoever 1t is not food alone that
these poor people IN need OF they have seed TO
SOW their little holdings They have miserable cloth
ing. and from inspection OF their houses
l can safely declare that along the coast
there are over 100 families who have no bed
clothes. entered the house OF one William mckinley.
Kilbeg few days agoI hts wife has been confined 10
her bed Or bed call ~ for the past twelve months;
ak small children around scarcely be
termed a ire--but bow / describe their clothing
They were literally naked, except the few tattered
rags that were rolled around them. III the same town
IL PAT McIoughn, with family OF eight equally miser-
able the youngest being twin infants. am, sir. your
most obedient servant, PATRICK LoGREk, p. r.
GwERDoRR, Eebruary.-This parish Is "a bleak and
barren tract Of land In few weeks probably not fifty
ont OF the 600 families Ia the district will be free from
distress The magnitude OF the labor Of the Relief Com
i,tee and the appalling distress in the parish may be
estimated from the fact that in a day Of distribu-
ton Of relief recently, 355 families were relieved.
and twenty-four of Indian meal distributed.
The hardshps appalling The situation is daily be-
coming more alarming A sad and pitiabe sight-a
hungry and furnishing people asking from their priest
shares oil their misery ana Indebtedness because
he cannot supply it-not bread but the humblest ana
cheapest food that be supplied for human use. In
dian meal Itis surprising yet the less true that
eggs have been the chief for the past two
months JAMES McFADDEs. p. 2.
COUNTY LEITRIm
The following letters describe the distress in two
parishes OF County .-'trim. which lies south Of