Martin Fitzgerald

According to RootsIreland, clergyman Jeremiah Halpindied of a cerebral hemorrhage on16 Feb 1904at age 69in parish of No. 1 Limerick. I hope this helps!

Hi there, an excerpt from a report I've written quoted some references to Fr. Halpin but for whom matters might have been even worse, than they were anyway in Mahoonagh.   

This material was sourced from work done by Historian Gerard Curtin, on the topic of West Limerick hardship and struggles in 19th century.

kind regards, Pat Scanlan

"1844 Fr. Jeremiah Halpin, parish priest of Castlemahon, stated: "If the landlords took the labourers under their own protection and let the land at the same rate as to the large farmers, their (the labourers) situation would be much better." Whenever a farm changed hands, the new tenant was bound by the agreements made by the previous  occupant with the labourer and could force the labourer to go if he so wished. In many instances the labourers did not have proper legal agreements, so they could not appeal to the courts and the eviction took place quietly. There were many more labourers evicted by farmers than by landlords, and the farmers treated the labourers much worse than the landlords treated the farmers.

Destitution in Ireland from the London Pictorial Times, 22 August 1846

During the Great Famine 1845 to 1847,

Fr Halpin gave evidence of the wretched plight of the poor and hungry in Mahoonagh. 

It was one of the worst hit areas of West Limerick. 129 people died of hunger. Corpses were often wrapped in straw and left by the roadside as relatives did not have the resources or the strength to bury them. There are today remnants of two famine mass graves one at Kyleen where about 200 people were buried. Another at Ballinskill has a mass grave of around 50 people. In the spring of 1847 direct food aid and the Destitute Poor (Ireland) Act opened up soup kitchens to feed three million daily at its height. 

There was a soup kitchen located in Castlemahon village."

Dear Pat Scanlan, 

I must admit that when I posted the questions relative to Martin Fitzgerald and Fr. Jeremiah Halpin, I never expected a reply. It was my first effort to utilize this website and I was totally unfamiliar with its process. When I read your response a few moments ago, I was so very pleased - one at merely receiving a response and second, at the quality of information that you shared with me. How very kind of you! It made my day. Now, I need to become familiar with irelandxo.com. If I share my personal email address with you, may I ask you a few more questions?

P.S. Martin Fitzgerald is my 2nd great-grandfather. And, my DNA tells me that I have a distant cousin whose last name is Scanlan and who is now living in the USA! I like your last name.

Kind regards, 

Linda Greenwood Hanson

Hi Linda,

certainly. Fr Halpin appears to have had much concern for his poorest parishioners. I would reckon there is plenty more documentary evidence of that..

regarding Scanlan DNA connection that is best discussed over email.
IrelandXO.com is "quiet" enough as the amount using it so far is quite small.

regards, Pat

try me on email
scanlanavia@yahoo.co.uk

Hi, Pat,

Thank you for sharing your email address with me. I have visitors through Monday but will send you an email note shortly thereafter. My email address is lindahanson2013@yahoo.com

I look forward to communicating with you.

Warm regards,

Linda