The Sydney Monitor 8th October, 1831 p4 (abridged)
Wikimedia Commons
I had just closed this article when a friend sent me, at my request, an account of the import of foods from Ireland up to the 1st day of June. It is imperfect because it only gives an account of the imports in London and Liverpool, leaving out Bristol, Glasgow and several other places. It is imperfect in that it does not include bacon and live animals, nor poultry nor eggs.
However, such as it is – here is the account of the imports of the first months of this year of famine in Ireland;
98, 555 Quarters of Wheat
311,848 Quarters of Oats
10,098 “ “ Barley
540 “ Rye
1,556 ” Beans
941 “ Peas
5,880 “ Malt
69,510 Loads of Meal
45,398 Sacks of Flour
12,605 Tierces of Beef
1,408 Barrels of Beef
20,088 Tierces of Pork
13,427 Barrels of Pork
149,639 Firkins of Butter
It is in Galway that the actual starvation is raging most, where the poor creatures cannot get a handful of meal to boil up with the nettles and seaweed! They cannot get a handful of the meal of oats to prevent their souls from leaving their bodies and it is certified that in one small parish eight persons died within a short period from starvation only.
Yesterday – six hundred and eight tons of oats – that is to say – one million, three hundred and thirty four thousands pounds weight of oats arrived in London only – from Galway.
The oats came in five vessels, the Union, the John Guisa, the Charlotte, the lively and the Victory.
W. Cobbett
The Burren and Beyond 