Skibbereen - Famine Survivors, How?

[Sinann]

Not sure this will answer your question or even if it will play for you.
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/blighted-nation/programmes/2013/0304/371964-episode-1/

Or this http://static.rasset.ie/documents/radio1/famine-experience-in-skibbereen.pdf

[AlanR83]

I think Giblet's reasons may be the most accurate  - I had not considered that some who emigrated during the Famine may have sent money home (a John Hallihane did emigrate to England, its recorded in one of the Loan follow up's). Also there were an awful lot of Hallihane's in Castlehaven and Toe Head, so it may have been safety in numbers and relatives gave food, work and money when they could. I dont think the Road works would have saved them as I have read that they paid a pittance and many actually died while working the roads, also the soup kitchen's apparently were not enough, the demand was huge and the soup itself was deficient in a lot of the calories and nutrients required to keep a body healthy. I think it must have been relatives and money sent back that kept them surviving as I have read there was always food in the Skibbereen marketplace people just did not have the money to purchase it. I have since found a good link about all the different aspects abount the famine and also an explanation why Fish was not always an option: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/hunger.htm

[Sonas]

Sonas, I think there was a programme of road improvements in the Skibbereen area.

Skoosh.

Road improvements were a common form of relief works all over the country.

[Sonas]

I think Giblet's reasons may be the most accurate  - I had not considered that some who emigrated during the Famine may have sent money home (a John Hallihane did emigrate to England, its recorded in one of the Loan follow up's). Also there were an awful lot of Hallihane's in Castlehaven and Toe Head, so it may have been safety in numbers and relatives gave food, work and money when they could. I dont think the Road works would have saved them as I have read that they paid a pittance and many actually died while working the roads, also the soup kitchen's apparently were not enough, the demand was huge and the soup itself was deficient in a lot of the calories and nutrients required to keep a body healthy. I think it must have been relatives and money sent back that kept them surviving as I have read there was always food in the Skibbereen marketplace people just did not have the money to purchase it. I have since found a good link about all the different aspects abount the famine and also an explanation why Fish was not always an option: http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/hunger.htm

I think it's fair to say that a combination of things saved people from death during the Famine and all posts in the thread might be read together to gain an overview of the various factors. Information on websites, rather than quality work by quality historians, is only going to give a generalised view of the Famine.

[Sinann]

3 brothers and a daughter found. Of course there could be more of the family survived but I wonder if that's an average number for that area out of a family of possibly ten, eleven for the brothers 

[giblet]

Maybe a person's health before the famine comes into play with loss of life also.

If they werent of good health to start with they probably had little chance of survival when the famine started.

[WHL]

My relations were also from Castlehaven and it always surprised me to find out that they all seemed to survive the famine. Traditional life down there seemed to centre around the landed gentry in Castletownshend and the peasants out in the countryside - might the gentry have been responsible for a better than expected survival rate (my family were with the peasants btw).
On the other hand, my great great grandmother from the Ballydehob area had an unusual surname - "Child". According to church records there were a number of boys born with this surname in the 1820s and 1830s. However there was nobody with that name in the 1901 census in County. Cork - I assumed that was death or emigration due to the famine

[Sinann]

life down there seemed to centre around the landed gentry in Castletownshend and the peasants out in the countryside - might the gentry have been responsible for a better than expected survival rate.

That was the case in the entire country.
The landlords varied as people always do, some helped a bit, some saw it as an opportunity to clear their land of tenents, many saw it as not their problem. They continued to expect the rent to be paid, and continued to export crops while their tenents went hungry. Generally their reputation (which wasn't good to start with) was destroyed during the famine and added to the reasons for the Land War at the end of the century.

[miggs 191]

My family are from Killaderry Castlehaven.
They survived.
I understand from word of mouth passed down through the generations that there were many sub tenants on their farms.They did not own the land then so I don't know if or to whom they may have paid rent.
My Grandfather( born in 1864)  always cared for others as when ever a pig was killed he would insist that the best cuts were given to those in the surrounding farms.My Mother told me it was a habit left from the famine years .Her grandmother born around1830s lived with them until the 1920s/30s.She made the Southern Star as being so old when she died.Of course she had survived.
I know they did eat sea weed from the strand but understood that was just as a thickener for a milk pudding.
The famine should never have happened because the English should have organised a proper system of care which they didn't as they did not want the Irish to be dependant on food hand outs !