THE GREAT FAMINE IN CO. KILDARE

The Great Famine in Co. Kildare

Introduction

The County Kildare Famine Commemoration Committee was set up in 1995, by Kildare County Council, to commemorate the Great Hunger. The committee includes county councillors; library and council staff; Maynooth College; local historians; and staff of the Kildare Heritage Project, Newbridge, and the Leinster Leader Indexation Project, Naas – both supported by Kildare County Library and FÁS. They undertook a number of ventures, including the publication of a collection of essays on the Famine, "Lest We Forget – Kildare and the Great Famine," the preparation of exhibitions and an archive of Famine material.

This information has been taken from two volumes containing articles and advertisements from the Leinster Express newspaper from the period 1839 to 1849 relating to the famine and the administration of the poor law in Co. Kildare. The Leinster Express is available on microfilm in the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin. The bound volumes are available throughout the Kildare Co. Library service.

The newspapers have been transcribed and collated by Karel Kiely M.A., and Graham O’Sullivan, Kildare Heritage Project, Newbridge, and Mary Carroll, Leinster Leader Indexation Project, Naas, and typed by the trainees of the Kildare Heritage Project, Newbridge.

These articles have been transcribed in their entirety from the Leinster Express newspaper. They cover the period 1839-1849 and include all references to the Poor Law and the famine in Co. Kildare. The years immediately preceding the famine (1839-1845) have been included in order to provide background information on the development of the Poor Law in the county.

VISIT – https://www.kildare.ie/library/famine-co-kildare/index.asp

The relevant newspaper articles from the Leinster Express relating to Co. Kildare during the period of the Great Famine have now been published online as part of the online resources of Local Studies, Genealogy and Archives Dept. of Kildare Co. Library and Arts Service. The information was made available by Karel Kiely, Genealogist and we would also like to thank Beatrice of www.kildare.ie for her technical expertise. This is a great online resource for students and researchers.