A Starving People: Life and Death in West Clare, 1845-1851 Book

A Starving People gives a vivid portrayal of life in the parish of Kilfearagh in West Clare in the years during and after the Great Famine. It tells a harrowing story of destitution, soup kitchens, workhouses, evictions, emigration, death, and survival. The parish covered 9,870 acres in this period and over the parish as a whole, landlords and middlemen held sway. Most farming consisted of tillage and most of the grain was exported to England. Fish, harvested in currachs, was sold in Kilkee, Kilrush, Limerick, and even County Kerry. Turf was exported in quantity. For his case study, the author consulted manuscripts in Irish and British archives, parliamentary papers and other official documents of the period, contemporary newspapers, and secondary sources.