Charles Egan wrote a bit of history of the Irish        1

The late 1840’s were cruel for the Irish

Potato crops were a staple of the Irish

A blight on the crops starved many of the Irish

Rotting from the center, devastating the Irish

And then, a harsh winter wiped out many Irish.

 

The Killing Snows, the first of a trilogy shows the Irish    2

Tragedy, from the perspective of one family of strong Irish.

This family were ordinary and extraordinary Irish

Ordinary needs for food and hope are not uniquely Irish

The need to pay the rent, also not uniquely Irish

The fact that life moved on, of course not uniquely Irish.

 

Extraordinary were the habits of the Ryans, proudly Irish         3

Like saving seed potatoes, for planting the next year, smart Irish

But the rot did not reward discipline for these Irish

The rot filled their bins as well as the fields of these Irish.

Bread and corn will have to suffice for these Irish

 

Physical strength in their teen and adult son – fortunate Irish.       4

And the fact that they had been hard working Irish,

Running a quarry of shale and stone made them reputable Irish.

So when relief came – it needed local workers to dispense to the Irish

Jobs that were back straining, almost impossible for the hungry Irish

Government programs underestimated the need of the Irish.

 

The government aid overestimated the work possible by the weakened Irish      5

But aid would not be given to the non-working Irish.

Laws based on fear of “encouraging people to be lazy” further starved the Irish

The local market suffered the truth of supply and demand and that Irish

Corn was rare and expensive and pitiful and the ONLY vegetable to feed the Irish

And it was not even possible for too many Irish.

 

The Ryan’s were fortunate in having that quarry to give work to the Irish        6

But the work was government work, with policies not based on care for the Irish.

Policies were based on stretching the aid money to as many as possible –  Irish

And the numbers of people in the vulnerable hills were uncounted Irish.

The Ryans were fair, but hunger affects a person’s thoughts, even the proud Irish

Stealing a cow becomes more necessary than fairness, for the local Irish.

 

I am a descendant of the surviving Boyles and Callahans, true Irish.

It feeds our souls to know what troubles have been endured, and being true Irish

We commit ourselves to being quick to help and never to waste – as true Irish.

By Nancy Ann Smith