History lives

Yesterday, we had the fortunate opportunity to have the owner of Molly Gallivan's Cottage, Stephen O'Sullivan, tour us around the farm and other historical sites of the parish of Bonane. Once again, we were shown kindness, friendship and compassion from the Irish people. Stephen spent five, indelible hours with us. The history of the Bonane Parish is extensive, and there are artifacts that can be dated back to around 3,000 BC. The most meaningful portions of our time with Stephen was listening to his knowledge of the famine. We saw 2 famine houses on our tour with him. The first house, we were told, accommodated 12 family members. Here at this house, we learned that English landlords taxed the Irish people for the number of windows that they had in their houses. If they were a poor family, there would be now windows in their house. Stephen told us that this was done to demoralize the Irish people, to keep them in the dark, to place them beneath the worth of the English. But it was at this time that the Irish invented the split door... In order to let light into the house, the top portion of the door would be opened...thus creating a window that wasn't taxed. A resourceful group! People who lived in extreme poverty, did not have windows, or a fireplace. A hole was cut in the center of the roof to allow for the smoke from the fire in the center of the house to escape.

We also learned that during the famine, if people couldn't pay their taxes, they were evicted...thrown out of their houses. Often times, houses were burnt to the ground by the English, and it wasn't uncommon for the head of the household to be hung in front of the house as a warning to neighbors. I had known about the evictions, but the information about the hangings was new to me...and shocked me. Stephen also told us about how soup kitchens were established by the English government to help feed the people. I also knew about this, but what I didn't know is that in order for one to accept the free soup, one had to denounce their Catholic Religion and become Protestant. There was a great division between these two religions in Ireland, and to force someone to leave their religion for a bowl of soup was another way to demoralize the Irish population. Even worse than this, people who accepted the donations from the soup kitchen, had to drop the O in their names. For example, if you were an O'Connor, or O'Sullivan, you would then become a Connor or Sullivan. These people were called "soupers" and to this day, in this region of Ireland, there are differences between the O'Connors and Connors, and it is still known today, who the "soupers" were. Again, this was used to strip the Irish of their pride and dignity. (Stephen did mention that there were many Irishmen who immigrated to the United States and voluntarily dropped the O in their name, so they are separate from the "soupers" of the famine.)

Stephen's ancestors suffered through the famine...he had members who perished during this time, and family members who immigrated to the United States. This is a subject that still touches the heart of the Irish today, including Stephen - who at times, found it difficult to talk to us about the famine. The emotions and pain left from the famine are still very much alive today. Talking to Stephen brought this pain and suffering to life for me. There is no book or Internet site in the world that could have made the history of the famine more alive for me. History lives here...and I can't wait to learn more.

Today, we travel to Charles Fort, a great historical landmark in the town of Kenmare.

Noel