Great Famine Double Ditch - Thurles Information

Invitation To Schools To Observe A Minute Of Silent Reflection – Great Famine.

An invitation has been sent out by Irish Green Party politician Mrs Catherine Martin, T.D. [Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport / Media and Chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee], inviting all schools in Ireland to observe a minute of silent reflection.

Note the above Double Ditch was removed during the month of March.
We now ask the question: Where was the Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan, and Leader Eamon Ryan TD, when we contacted both of them on numerous occasions for assistance, in an attempt to save the Thurles Great Famine Double Ditch?
To date Mr Eamon Ryan TD has never replied. See HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE, etc. etc.

In her invitation Mrs Martin writes:- [Now Read & Weep.]

“In May 2008, the Government decided to inaugurate an annual National Famine Commemoration Day in memory of all those who died and emigrated during the Great Famine. This year’s National Famine Commemoration will take place in Milford, Co. Donegal at 2:00pm on Sunday 21st May, in the presence of the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins.

There is no other event in our history that can be likened to the Great Famine either for its immediate impact or its legacy. That legacy includes a strong appreciation among Irish people of issues such as food security and a strong commitment to humanitarian aid and relief.
I invite you to arrange for all staff and pupils at your school to observe a minute of silent reflection on Friday, 19th May in memory of all those who suffered loss during the Famine – loss of life, loss of family, loss of home and loss of country. This minute of silence should take place ideally at midday, but can take place at whatever time suits individual schools on the day. I would ask also during this minute of silence that your staff and pupils also remember those who are suffering famine and hunger today, particularly the children and young people living in parts of the world currently afflicted by chronic hunger, poverty and disease.
It will be a very special and dignified tribute to those who died during the Great Famine and I would like to thank you most sincerely for your support in this regard.
If you would like to discuss the matter further, please feel free to contact Ronan Nestor
on 085 800 2899 or at faminecommemoration@tcagsm.gov.ie.
Yours sincerely,
Catherine Martin, T.D.
[Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Chair of the National Famine Commemoration Committee.]

Shame on the Green Party and its membership, together with Thurles Municipal District Council officials, and local elected councillors who wasted taxpayers money in order to destroy our local history and a guaranteed Thurles tourist attraction.

National Famine Commemoration Ceremony In Strokestown, Co. Roscommon

An Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin informed a National Famine Commemoration ceremony today in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, that there was no more devastating or traumatic an event in Irish history, than the Great Famine of 1845-1849.

Today’s ceremony also included military honours and a wreath-laying ceremony by ambassadors to Ireland, in remembrance of all those who perished, during this, the last great famine in Europe, caused by the failure of the potato crop over successive years.

Addressing the crowd today, An Taoiseach Mr Micheál Martin said, “It is impossible for us to imagine the feelings of hopelessness, anger and loss experienced by those who suffered through the Famine years.
Famines do not happen in democracies. In fact, there is no recorded account of a famine in a country where the government is freely elected and there was free speech.
I think if you want to know why Ireland didn’t have another famine you will find it in our commitment to self-determination and building a democratic state”.

There was no mention of the Thurles Great Famine Double Ditch demolished by his Fianna Fáil colleagues on the Mill Road, here in Thurles despite several emails sent to his government.

This evening we sent an email to An Taoiseach’s office, asking him to send a copy of today’s address to local Fianna Fáil TD Mr Jackie Cahill and current government supporter Independent TD Mr Michael Lowry.
We trust Mr Cahill will share this address with Fianna Fáil Councillors Mr Sean Ryan and Mr Seamus Hanafin in due course.
[Well, as we are already aware elected Fianna Fáil reps. share everything. View HERE.]

Dublin singer-songwriter Mr Declan O’Rourke also took part in this event, singing two songs from his 2017 album ‘Chronicles of the Great Famine’, namely ‘Poor Boy’s Shoes’ and ‘Go Domhain i do Chiumhne’.

Meanwhile, let’s have a listen to Mr Declan O’Rourke.

Declan O’Rourke – “Poor Boy’s Shoes”

When he met her at the dance, she had flowers in her hair.
There was no girl in this land that could have stood next to her there.
And there everyone could see, how he loved her instantly,
Though he had nothing to give her but his poor boy’s hopes and dreams.

Well he danced with her that summer till it showed on her sweet face.
As she was taken by the warmth of him and all his gentle ways.
Then he swore his love was true
And he married her in poor boy’s shoes.

Well not many years had passed through the grip of his strong hands,
When a great unyielding hunger drew its veil across this land.
His young love soon took ill and with two little mouths to fill,
It took all he could to keep them from the poor house on the hill.
But when his pockets had run dry from crying tears that rang like bells
And their home drew in the wind like an old sea shell.
Then he gathered everything he had to lose,
And he walked them up in poor boy’s shoes.

First God took the little boy,
Then he took the little girl.
And soon their little souls were free from all the sadness in the world.
Their father lifted up his love,
She could no longer walk alone
And from the poor house on the hill,
He took her on the long walk home.

There he felt the cold upon her as he laid her down to rest,
And so he knelt down by her bed and drew her feet up to his chest.
There he tried to warm her cold feet through
And they found him there in poor boy’s shoes.
END

Thurles Now Destroyed Double Ditch, Mass Path & Right Of Way.

We have received several emails from both home and abroad asking what was the name of the church serviced by the now demolished, historic, Great Famine Double Ditch.

Well actually, there was more than one church serviced by this former Great Famine Right Of Way, before Tipperary County Council, earlier knowingly destroyed it.

Kilahilla church was situated on the Mill Road, Thurles, nearly opposite where the Double Ditch once exited from College Lane, (Bohereen Keagh or translated from Irish to English ‘Blind Road’).
The Down survey map, drawn in the 1650’s, shows another church further east, named Kilnock, translated from the Irish “The church of the Hill”, somewhere near the top of Loughtagalla Hill, possibly at the fort in Rathcooney.

Even further east Norman documents tell of a church in Kyle (also referred to as Killuragh or Kyllienane) and the fort in the townland of Kyle is traditionally regarded as the site.

There may well have been a church too in either Corbally or Archerstown called Rathfernagh, as a document from 1305 refers to the glebes and the sanctuary lands of these towns lands. There are traditions of church sites in Athloman and Coolaculla and the alternative name for Ballyduff, Kilmilchon, implies that there was a church site there also.

However, not all these churches were in existence at the same time; political and other upheavals where as unkind to churches as to other buildings, but the memory of these holy places survived down through the centuries, helped by the constant verbal use of their place names.

There are also two holy wells in Thurles, ‘Lady’s Well’ to the south which pilgrims possibly may have chosen the Double Ditch route and ‘Tobernaloo’ to the west of the town.

In the Middle ages Lady’s Well was a noted place of pilgrimage and in 1432 Archbishop O’Hedion persuaded the Earl of Ormond to grant a safe conduct to all pilgrims who wished to visit Thurles on the Feast of the Assumption (Feast Date August 15th which marks the occasion of the Virgin Mary’s bodily ascent into heaven at the end of her life), and for the 3 days before and after the Feast Day.

Same was necessary because of the riotous and unseemly conduct that had crept in on “Patterns Days” (devotions that take place within a parish on the feast day of the patron saint of the parish) or patronal feasts of the Saints, venerated at wells and holy places.

The Archbishops of Cashel forbade these assemblies throughout the diocese in the late 1700’s. However, some devout people continued to make a pilgrimage to Lady’s Well, up until the end of the last century.

Tobernaloo or translated from Irish the ‘Well of St.Lua’, may derive its name from the man who built his church on Friar’s Island in the Shannon and gave his name to Killaloe, or more probably from Molua or Cluain-Fearta-Molua in Laois, who was a personal friend of St. Mochoemóg of Leigh, Two-Mile-Borris, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

Biodiversity Destruction On Thurles Lady’s Well & Double Ditch Walkways Criticized.

Destruction of Biodiversity on the Thurles Lady’s Well Right-of-Way & now destroyed Double Ditch Right-of-Way, are being denounced in Social Media threads. The threads begun by Thurles.Info and carried by @ThurlesHour demonstrate the growing feelings of lovers of our local environment and the distrust of County Councils and their officials.

Some of the remarks hereunder posted on Twitter by other people.

“County councils across Ireland don’t seem to ‘get’ nature.”

“Thurles Municipal District council got funding to design, secure planning & construct a river walk from Thomond Road to Turtulla. Landowner consent was not forthcoming. They decided to spend the money asap – removing all trees, laying down tarmac on the route of the Double Ditch!”

**Biodiversity & Heritage Destroyed By Tipperary County Council & Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service**, **Without Any Local Consultation**.

“Local authority greenway. No environmental oversight. Asphalt laid up to river. Token 2m buffer. Chain-link/welded mesh fencing down the side to ensue no critters pass.
Eventually all these will need to be taken out, and the riverbanks restored.”

“Greenways are like a lottery win for quarry owners.”

“Wrecking the place.”

“What would a riverside greenway look like if it were ecologically sound? Is there an acceptable set back distance or preferred material?”

“This is happening along any path that is designated a Greenway.”

Thurles.Info now asks WHY?

Meanwhile: Attempts to contact Malcolm Noonan’s Office via email [Mos MOS@housing.gov.ie via mail3.itservices.gov.ie & malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie], between Sat, 22nd August 2020, and Thursday, 24th February, 2022, and on numerous other recorded occasions, fell on deaf ears. Currently staff at his constituency address; The Parade, Co. Kilkenny, do not even answer phone calls.
In the past two years despite numerous attempts we have received only two “Automated Email Replies” from his office.

A Chara,
Automatic reply: Destruction of Thurles Heritage
Thank you for contacting the departmental office of Malcolm Noonan, T.D., Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform.
Your email will be reviewed and a response will issue in due course, should one be required.
Le gach dea-ghuí,
Malcolm Noonan
Office of the Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform

Our dealings with Mr Eamon Ryan TD have been equally ignored. Again we were sent 1 Automatic reply on Wed, 6th April 2022 and 4 on Mon, 11th April, despite being contacted only once, on each of the afore mentioned dates by myself. (So 4 staff opened it and decided to ignore the content.)

Automatic reply: Destruction of Thurles Heritage
A chara,
Many thanks for your email. As I am sure you can appreciate, I receive a large volume of emails on a daily basis. Your issue is important to me and myself or one of my team will be back to you as soon as possible.
In the meantime, if you have a query relating to the below areas, you might find the following email addresses helpful:
Matters related to Dublin Bay South constituency: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Matters related to the Dept of Environment, Climate, Communications networks: minister.ryan@decc.gov.ie
Eamon Ryan TD
Minister for Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport.

Despite our email communications being civil, we have never spoken or received even one, single, reply from staff at Mr Eamon Ryan’s department.
We did explain our problem on one occasion to a member of Mr Malcolm Noonan’s, Kilkenny Staff, who confirmed that they had received my emails in the past, but could not explain why they were not replied too.

Meanwhile, our dealings with staff at National Parks and Wildlife Service were equally disappointing.
Early communications stated from NPWL stated, “Please note that if these works are part of development covered by planning permission then they are exempt from Section 40 of the Wildlife Act. John will update you on his findings in due course.”

Then NPWS service claimed they granted verbal permission to Tipperary Co. Council in late February on the grounds it was a road or other structure. Quote “However, it should also be noted that the clearance of vegetation in the course of road or other construction works or in the development or preparation of sites on which any building or other structure is intended to be provided is exempted under Section 40.”

The truth is, there was No Road; No new Construction Works; No other new structures; just a small, yet valuable piece of 176 year old Thurles Heritage.

National Parks and Wildlife Service have further confirmed that because of “work stress”, they had forgotten to recognise the Mill Road address we had reported and identified in relation to breaches of Sect 40 of the Wildlife Act. Thus when asked for documentation they then confirmed, quote: –
(A) “Communication between Tipperary County Council and a named Wildlife Ranger was only verbal, there is no written documentation.“
(B) “Any written communication between Tipperary County Council and the builder is in their possession, National Parks and Wildlife Service do not have same.”
(C) “Furthermore any request for such information needs to follow the AIE process.“
[Latter AIE referred to is “Access to Information on the Environment”]

“Our heritage is what we have inherited from the past, to value and enjoy in the present, and to preserve and pass on to future generations.
In helping shape our identity, our heritage becomes part of what we are. Our expression of this identity shows others what we value; it highlights our values and priorities.
Our heritage provides clues to our past and how our society has evolved. It helps us examine our history and traditions and enables us develop an awareness about ourselves.
It helps us understand and explain why we are the way we are.”

The above are not my words but the words of the Irish Heritage Council, See HERE .

Then this evening, April 20th 2022, out of the blue, we received an email in pdf format.
Yes, readers I fool you not, after almost two years of waiting, it arrived from staff at Minister Malcolm Noonan’s Office, set in the form of a standardised letter, sent with the permission of Ms Danielle McDonnell, (Private Secretary to Minister Malcolm Noonan T.D.); signed by a person in his constituency office in Co. Kilkenny, latter yet another member of staff authorised to act on behalf of the same Ms Danielle McDonnell.

Mr Noonan’s almost two year old delayed communication read.
Dear Mr. Willoughby,
On behalf of Mr. Malcolm Noonan, T.D. Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, I wish to refer to your emails regarding the removal of a hedgerow by Tipperary County Council at Mill Road, Thurles.
The works in question were carried out to facilitate the upgrade of an existing pathway. In this instance the National Parks and Wildlife Service are satisfied that these works did not constitute a breach of Section 40 of the Wildlife Act.
Yours sincerely,
P.P. Danielle McDonnell (Private Secretary to Minister Malcolm Noonan T.D.).

Remarkably, Minister Malcolm Noonan’s dictated communication, failed to explain in his long awaited communicated, why Tipperary Co. Council and builders were given permission to destroy irreplaceable Thurles history, which as we previously stated, was a certain sure attraction for foreign and domestic tourism.

Same has been destroyed despite every Irish Government department; Elected Tipperary Politician and double jobbing Local Councillor, being warned exactly what was going to happen, since 2019.

So, Minister Noonan, I totally reject your recent delayed communication. I continue to seek your explanation as to why, based on historic evidence (See page 6) and a falsified Archaeological Impact Statement, that two Green Party politicians; namely you Sir and Mr Eamon Ryan failed to communicate; to fully investigate this piece of Thurles heritage and now choose to protect the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Service?

According to the Heritage Council, Quote “An important part of their work is to encourage local communities to take responsibility for and participate in the development and conservation of their heritage.
Such projects help generate a greater sense of pride and belonging in the local area through increased participation…and sheer enjoyment!
Cultural tourism and activity holidays on our natural landscapes and countryside continue to grow, outperforming all other tourism sectors.”

Both of you gentlemen must now reply to the question being asked, WHY?

Thurles Rare Gratuitous Famine Relief Book 1847/48 Goes Online.

The recently discovered ‘Gratuitous Relief Ration Record Book,’ (or the ‘Distribution Book,‘ as it was also called), for the Electoral Divisions of Holycross, Thurles and Ballycahill, dated 1847/48, has now been digitized and uploaded on line, allowing yet another search facility, for those anxious to trace their family roots back to their once local homestead, within the Thurles Co. Tipperary area.

This afore mentioned ‘Gratuitous Relief Ration Record Book’ (Videoed on two occasions, before being broadcast on at least seven different occasions in the past, on Irish national TV channels RTE1 and TG4), contains the names of those who were classed as paupers in the hinterland / towns-lands of these aforementioned areas, during what was the most harrowing period of the Great Irish Famine, referred to as ‘Black ’47’.

This famine also known as “The Great Hunger”, lasted between 1845 and 1849 and was arguably the single greatest disaster that had ever affected Irish history.

This extremely rare ‘Rations Record Book,’ contains the names of the heads of each household and in many cases the actual names of all the adults in each household. It also contains the number of rations each householder was allowed and indeed received, together with remarks, sometimes suggesting fraud, under what can be viewed as then an early form of social welfare system introduced.

Just over 3 million Irish people were being supported nationally by outdoor relief in July of 1847. To those in the Thurles area it supported, (covering the electoral divisions of Holycross, Thurles and Ballycahill), it provides records of food rations distributed during the period May – Sept. 47 and part of 1848, being a very humiliating and an insufficient system.
Nevertheless it did keep starvation at bay for a very sizeable portion of Tipperary people at that crucial time in Black ’47’.

This new information can now be viewed on our other website Hidden Tipperary.com, (under Downloads) or directly via the link located HERE

How to search this uploaded data.
Many of you will be aware that holding down the CTRL key on the keyboard of your PC or Laptop and striking the F key; a small box will appear on your screens, bottom left corner of the page being searched.
Type into this box the ‘search word’ you hope to glean information with and press Enter.
Note: When searching for a name there may be several persons of the same name, so use the arrow keys within the search box to fully complete your search.

EXAMPLE: ‘Good Friday’, back in 1847, fell earlier on that year, on April 2nd, and had you begun using the search words Michl Hayden for example, you would have discovered the following information: –

No. on Relief List	Townsland	Name	No. of Rations Allowed	Date	Date	Description	Remarks
3229	Ballycahill, Thurles.	Michl. Hayden	1	March 30th 1847	April 6th 1847	Old & Sickly.	Cut off. Has land.

If anyone has any queries regarding the further understanding of this new data upload, please do contact us directly HERE.

More on this and other tourism history in the coming days.

Regrettably, due to the wanton deceit, fraudulent and common duplicity of Tipperary Co. Council officials; latter led by Chief Executive Mr Joe MacGrath; the Thurles Great Famine Double Ditch; same the only example of a 176 year old project of its type in existence, within the Irish 32 counties, sadly no longer exists, for the obvious benefit of local business and local tourism, within the Thurles area.
It must not be forgotten that Tipperary Co. Council were greatly aided in their destruction of this heritage by the pretentious affectations of Fianna Fáil Councillor & Cathaoirleach of Thurles Municipal District, Mr Seamus Hanafin; his council colleagues/officials (Including Thurles administrator Ms Sharon Scully), together with a fallacious ‘Archaeological Impact Statement’, authored by Mr F. Coyne BA MIAI and accepted by Mr Michael Devery, North Tipperary County Council; Róisin O Grady Tipperary Heritage Office, together with long time purposeless millionaire chasers, namely TD’s Mr Jackie Cahill and Mr Michael Lowry.
Local newspapers including Tipperary Star; Thurles Chamber of Commerce; local TippFm Radio must also all take their share of the blame, promoting people with self interests while refusing to challenge press releases and political statements.