APPENDIX 1 The Famine in Knockfierna 1845-51

Excerpts from books and press coverage of The Famine in Knockfierna 1845-51

‘Foundations of scores of primitive shacks have remained in place on Knockfierna since it was deserted in 1847.  Spread over some 200 acres, there are remnants of many houses – tiny, at about 8 feet by 8 feet, – with nothing more than walls and clay floors with sod roofs. It is estimated that about 130 families lived here at one time. These houses are now being preserved in memory of those who died in that terrible time.

Outside the remains of their huts, although it is now rather overgrown with scrub, it is still possible to see their horticultural efforts – raised beds where they tried in vain to grow a potato crop to feed their families; a crop that rotted in the ground for several years as it succumbed to a blight. As potatoes were the mainstay of their diet, there was no alternative, and so they had nothing to eat.

The great green lush pastures of the Golden Vale are below where these wretched people ‘lived’. It was to Ballingarry graveyard that their coffin-less bodies were transported. From this hill their emaciated bodies were taken to Ballingarry to be deposited into anonymous pits.’

https://thesilvervoice.wordpress.com/2012/08/30/remembering-the-great-famine-a-dying-nations-groan/

‘The powerless found in the gorse and bracken first a refuge: then a place to starve. Then a place to die. The local parish priest wrote about the bodies being taken down from the hill. "The transition from the bleak hill side of Knockfierna to the coffin-less grave in the church yard of Ballingarry, is a transition as common and indeed natural that it attracts no attention and excites no sensation," he said. Death was that commonplace.

About 2,000 people were huddled up on that one hill in 1845. Today, of course, there's no one.’

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/black-year-when-death-brought-the-country-to-its-knees-1.23599

‘Knockfierna was common land so anyone could live there. In the early 19th century, it became a refuge for many evicted and dispossessed families who moved to its upper slopes between 1830 and 1845. The mountain became heavily populated, with over 600 people and 123 houses at its peak.

The foundations of scores of primitive shacks have remained in place on Knockfierna since it was deserted in 1847. Spread over some 200 acres are the remnants of many houses – some as small as 8 ft by 8 ft – with nothing more than walls and clay floors with sod roofs. It is estimated that about 130 families lived here at one time.

As the death tolls rose, their emaciated bodies were brought to the graveyard in Ballingarry without any coffins bodies to be buried in pits without gravestones, names or identities.

It is not known how many men, women and children died on Knockfierna during the Great Famine between 1847 and 1851. But they had starved to death in sight of the lush green fields of the Golden Vale below, one of the richest and most prosperous agricultural areas in Ireland.”

http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2020/10/climbing-to-highest-point-in-limerick.html

 ‘Ballingarry was a booming town in the early 1800s, and the important industries were weaving and linen. The town's economy was badly impacted by the Famine. The countryside around Ballingarry is dominated by the hill of Knockfierna, which means "the hill of truth". Common had about 88 houses, a schoolhouse, police barracks, and a commonage area of 198 acres.

The commonage area on Knockfierna was hilly and rocky, and not good for farming. It was literally in the Carey's backyard. Ballingarry is now the site of a park dedicated to the famine houses – houses that were built and occupied on commonage land by those who were evicted by ruthless landlords in the potato famine. Many were evicted from the nearby Cox estate in Ballynoe, a townland just south of Commons. "Knockfierna had a lot of common ground, meaning that it was not owned by a landlord, so many evicted families moved to the upper slopes between 1830-1845. The hill was densely populated with over two hundred stone cabins and a total population of over one thousand persons. These people had plots of land and depended on potato crops totally so when the crop failed in consecutive years, they faced death or emigration." (Knockfierna, the Hill of Truth)

The famine memorial is located very near the Carey's property: "You will see pre-famine unfinished field patterns, walls and potato ridges (lazy beds). These ridges show that the last crops were never dug out because of the potato blight. A megalithic tomb is visible on the northern slope of Knockfierna and the remains of a cairn on the summit. The Mass rock is on the northern side of the pinnacle which was used during the Penal times (1700-1800).”

A local history describes Commons at the time: "Much of Cnoc Firinne is a commonage, and in the bad times people used to come from all parts and build Scalps (Scailpeanna) to live in. These were very numerous during that time. The poor men did a day's work when they got the chance. Their wages were four pence a day. During the famine times when there was nothing to eat but turnip leaves, one poor man died of hunger because he was too honest to steal and too proud to beg. Stealing was very rife in those days. Some were noted for stealing... A family named Dore, who were powerful strong men were noted for doing things of this kind. Flour used to be taken out in sack loads from a mill in Limerick to some of the small towns and very often this used to be held up near Kilmacow Cross by the Knockfierna boys and the flour taken. This became so common that soldiers were sent to Knockfierna to prevent such occurrences. They camped in Dan Sheahan's field and to this day the field is called "The Camp Field". There was also a police barrack in Knockfierna, but the police ceased to live in it over one hundred years ago. The Barrack is now owned by Mr. David Biggane."  (Old Stories from Knockfierna During the Famine Times; Knockfierna & District Annual Journal, Vol 5, 1993)’

 https://boydhouse.com/alice/Carey/Carey%20Family%20History%20color.pdf

 ‘More than 1,000 people lived at Knockfierna Hill at the outbreak of the Famine. The land was commonage and therefore rent free and the poorest and most destitute families — many of whom had been evicted — came to eke out a living from the tiny patches of poor land that surrounded their hovels. By 1851 only 300 remained. Being commonage, the hill remained undisturbed, and the houses fell to ruins. They have now been cleared and the shacks restored on their original walls or foundations. No changes have been made in any detail of the design of the houses and they are roofed with sod or thatch. When visiting these houses, it is possible to understand exactly the conditions of the people who lived there. Potato ridges are still visible adjacent to the houses. A group of us, including Senator Kiely, visited the area during the past weeks. In our young days we climbed the hill of Knockfierna practically every Sunday but then we did not note the historical significance of the potato ridges. The old pathways and walls have been cleared. The wells from which the people drew water are still there. Seeing these houses and little patches of land must engender a sense of respect for the stoic courage of those who daily eked out an existence for their families.’

https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/1995-09-19/6/