Primary Sources

Nicholson, Asenath. Annals of the Famine in Ireland 1847, 1848, and 1849. New York: E. French, 1851. http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/History/History-idx?type=HTML&rgn=DIV1&byte=17771907. Accessed February 26, 2007.

Chapters I, III, VI, VII, and IX of this book contain extensive documentation about the extent of the relief efforts in the form of monies raised, by American and British charities to relieve the famine in Ireland. It also describes soup shops and the manner of distributing relief to the poor.

Subject: A non-fiction book that describes the conditions of the Irish people during the famine of 1846-1851.
Occasion: Beginning in 1844, Asenath Nicholson traveled throughout Ireland opportunity because she wanted to see the real condition of the Irish people. Unfortunately, she witnessed one of the worse famines in Europe.
Audience: She wrote the book to serve as witness to the terrible conditions that she witnessed during the famine.
Purpose: The book serves as an eyewitness account of the conditions and type of assistance that was rendered to the Irish during the Famine.
Speaker: Ms. Nicholson’s visited Ireland to learn about her heritage and to observe the living conditions of the Irish people. Instead, she ended up witnessing and writing about the Irish Potato famine.

 

Transactions of the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends during the Faminein Ireland. Dublin, Ireland, Hodges and Smith, 1852. http://www.thegreathunger.org/html/collection/digitized.htm. Accessed February, 26, 2007.

This report documents the efforts not only of The Society of Friends during the famine but also other charitable and governmental agencies. It notes the first appearance of the potato blight in 1845 and the formation of a Central Relief Committee on November, 13, 1846.

Subject: A lengthy report that documents efforts by The Society of Friends (Quakers) and other charitable and assigned governmental agencies to relieve the suffering of the Irish people during the Great Famine.
Occasion: The famine ended by 1850. This report contains the totals in the amount and type of aid given by countries, charitable associations, and governments in support of famine relief.
Audience: The report may have been intended to be read by Central Relief Committee members and their constituents so that they could receive an accounting of all their relief support expenditures.
Purpose: The report was written as a final account of the Central Relief Committee’s relief efforts on behalf of the Irish Famine victims.
Speaker: There is no designated speaker. The report stands alone as a final accounting document.

 

Anglo-Hibernicus. “A Letter to the Right Honorable Lord John Russell, on the Future Prospects of Ireland”. London: W.J. cleaver, December 1846. http://www.thegreathunger.org/html/main/indexa.htm. Accessed on February 27, 2007.

This site features a lengthy letter form Anglo-Hibernicus to Lord John Russell with possible solutions to the famine in Ireland. He recommend s that the British government give small grants of money to farmers to grow crops other than potatoes; levy an income tax on landlords to use for providing relief to famine victims; improving fisheries so that they would yield more food and letting down the barriers that would prevent free trade.

Subject: This letter is addressed to Lord Jon Russell, Prime Minister of England. He became head of a liberal government that trusted to free trade and market forces. He closed all government food depots that were crucial in 1845 to feeding the poor and declared that public works would have to funded from taxes that were uncollectible because no could pay taxes. He also stated that the export of food from Ireland was to continue at the same rate even if people were starving.
Occasion: This letter was written to Prime Minister Russell to suggest ways that might alleviate and/or end the famine.
Audience: The intended audience is Lord John Russell and presumably his Cabinet members and perhaps the House of Lords.
Speaker: The speaker is Anglo-Hibernicus. His position in the letter and in further searching is unknown.
Purpose: His purpose in writing Lord Russell is to persuade him to take action concerning relief of the famine through the allotment of monies to encourage farmers to grow alternate crops, a tax on landlords that would be used to fund relief efforts, and possible funds to allow those who wish to emigrate.