1 THE REALITY OF IRISH EVICTiONS IN 19th CENTURY IRELAND There - TopicsExpress

1 THE REALITY OF IRISH EVICTiONS IN 19th CENTURY IRELAND There were extensive clearances of tenants in both Cavan and Westmeath during the period of the Irish Holocaust\Gorta Mor. A mass eviction ook place one cold February night at Tonagh in the late 1840s. Then Tonagh was a thriving village located near Ross on the Meath shores of Lough Sheelin close Mountnugent. The crowbar brigade evicted 700 poor victims who were thrown from their homes, their dwelling destroyed and they were left ‘on the road’ during one of Irelands worst winter’s on record. Many of their friends tenants tried to help their destitute neighbors, even though they knew that or they themselves could be evicted for giving aid to evictees. They tried to survive by the roadsides and fields, but many were to die of starvation and exposure, Lough Sheelin Wolfe Tones https://youtube/watch?v=4dgVeoAWHPw Farewell my Country a Long farewell My tale of anguish no tongue can tell For Im forced to fly oer the ocean wide from the home I love by Lough Sheelin side. How proud was I of my girl so mfair I was envied most by the young men there When I brought her back a bashful bride To my cottage home by Lough Sheelin side. Chorus: Farewell my love a fond adieu Farewell my comrades and my country too For Im forced to fly oer the ocean wide From the home I love by Lough Sheelin side. But all our joys were too good to last for the Landlord came our young hopes to blast In vain we pleaded for mercy no He hurled us out in the blinding snow. The no one opened for us their door For ill-felt vengeance would reach them sure My Eileen fainted in my arms and died On that snowy night by Lough Sheelin side. Chorus I buried her down in the churchyard low Where in the springtime the wild flowers grow I shed no tears for my tongue felt dry On that fearful night by Lough Sheelin side. Farewell my country farewell all day The ship will soon take me far away But oh my fond heart would sooner bide Near my Eileens grave by Lough Sheelin side. Chorus image Evicitions Ballymachugh Lough-Sheelin