Searching for Liverpool’s Famine Victims
Carol Davis visits a church in Liverpool that has tragic links with the Irish Famine. The opening of a new study centre there will assist those trying to trace ancestors affected by the disaster.
The elegant egg-shaped burial chambers built in 1833 as part of the Roman Catholic church of St Anthony’s in Liverpool bear witness to a grim tale. Stacked five high and seven deep, they and the recently unearthed paupers’ mass grave behind the church were filled to bursting point in the black days of 1847.
The appearance of potato blight in Ireland in August 1845 was the start of a terrible chain of events. In 1847 116,000 Irish refugees trudged from the western Gaelic-speaking counties to spend their last shillings on a passage to Liverpool. The long march weakened them further, and by the time they disembarked in England many were already carrying the seeds of the typhus and dysentery that would kill them.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.