Quakers
The Society of Friends believe that God is present in everyone and that people are equal, whatever their class, sex, race or creed. They believe that they have a duty to help those in need.
As soon as they became aware of the potato blight, they organised a countrywide investigation and set up a Central Relief Committee based in Dublin. Jonathan Pim (1848) and James Hack Tuke (1848) both reported on conditions in Burrishoole. With only 3,000 members, they could not undertake all the relief work themselves. Rather, they distributed aid through local committees, usually composed of clergymen. They set up soup kitchens and distributed cash, food, clothes and blankets. They also distributed seeds for new crops, started model farms, helped organise industry and fishing, published reports and advised the Government. They also let the world know what conditions were like in Ireland. They raised funds internationally, particularly in Canada and the United States of America. It is estimated that they raised and distributed the equivalent of £14 million in modern finances. Without their help, many more would have died (Goodbody, 1998). Click HERE for Information on Evangelists' Relief |
Quaker soup was substantial and filling. The Government soup in contrast was weak and watery, the main requirement being that it should cost no more than £1 per gallon, including fuel. The Quakers also provided the boilers and soup pots for the Government kitchens (O'Neill, 1994).
Counties Galway and Mayo in Connacht, Clare, Kerry and Cork in Munster and Cavan in Ulster received most support from the Quakers, as these counties were the neediest. The Quakers efforts in some places were hampered by the refusal of some clergymen to cooperate. In places, their boilers lay rusting, as there was no committee to cook or distribute the soup. O'Neill (1950) says the Friends invited a weaver from Yorkshire to advise on setting up a woollen mill in Galway or Mayo. The Friends offered a loan of £1500 to any group who would be willing set up the business but no one took up the offer. Some of their efforts were less successful. Asenath Nicholson (1851) describes how farmers around Newport planted turnip seeds as if they were grass and never weeded or thinned the plants. The resulting roots were tiny. The people ate them anyway instead of potatoes. Turnips are not nourishing and she said that the people who ate too many of them became bloated and ill. |