The failure of 1822, in the provinces of Munster and Connaught, was owing to a continued and excessive humidity, which caused the potatoes to rot after they had been stored in the pits, so that the deficiency of food was not discovered till late in the season. On the 7th May, 1822, a public meeting was held in London which was attended by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the most eminent persons of the day, when a committee of no less than 109 of the nobility and gentry was formed, and a subscription was entered into, amounting, with the aid of a king’s letter, to 311,081ℓ. 5s., 7d., of which 44,177ℓ. 9s. was raised in Ireland. Many excellent principles were laid down for the distribution of this large sum; and after reserving what was required for immediate relief, the balance, amounting to 87,667ℓ., was granted to various societies which had been established for the future and permanent benefit of the Irish peasantry[6]. A committee also sat at the Mansion House at Dublin, which collected 31,260ℓ. from various quarters, independently of the grants it received from the London Committee. Central Committees were established in each county town in the distressed districts, and Sub-Committees in each parish. The western portion of Ireland was also divided into three districts, to each of which a civil engineer was appointed for the purpose of employing the destitute in making roads, and the following sums were voted by Parliament for carrying on these and other Public Works set on foot with the same object of relieving the distress[7]:
On 24 June, 1822, £100,000,
“for the employment of the poor in Ireland, and other purposes relating thereto as the exigency of affairs may require.”
On 23 July, 1822, £200,000,
“to enable His Majesty to take such measures as the exigency of affairs may require.”
And on the 24 June, 1823, £15,000 was voted,
“to facilitate emigration from the south of Ireland to the Cape of Good Hope.”
In 1831 another failure of the potato crop occurred in the counties of Galway, Mayo, and Donegal, upon which another meeting was held in the City of London, and one committee was established at the Mansion House, and another at the West End. Great exertions were made to raise subscriptions; a bazaar was held at the Hanover Square Rooms by many of the ladies of the nobility, presided over by the Queen in person; and there was a ball at Drury Lane Theatre, which was honoured by the presence of the King and Queen. The whole amount collected was 74,410ℓ.; and besides this 40,000ℓ. was granted by Parliament, part of which was expended on relief works, and part in the actual distribution of food. Besides these London Committees, two other Committees were formed at Dublin, through one of which (the Mansion House Committee[8]) 8,569ℓ. was collected, and through the other (the Sackville Street Committee) 21,526ℓ.
In each of the years 1835, 1836, and 1837, the potato crop failed in one or other of the districts in the West of Ireland, and sums amounting in the aggregate to 7,572ℓ. were expended from Civil Contingencies in relieving the distress thereby occasioned, to which was added the sum of 4,306ℓ. remaining from the English and Irish subscriptions of 1831.
In 1839 another failure occurred; and in all the Western and Midland Counties, the average price of potatoes in July and August was 7d. a stone, and of oatmeal 18s. or 19s. a cwt.; the former double, and the latter one-third more than the usual price at that time of the year. On this occasion Captain Chads, R.N., was deputed by the Government to assist the landlords in employing the destitute in constructing roads and other useful public works; and it appears from a report addressed by him to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, dated the 22nd of August, 1839, that 5,441ℓ. was expended in this way, of which 1840ℓ. was contributed by the Government, besides 1478ℓ. disbursed through other channels. Towards the conclusion of his report Captain Chads made the following remarks:—“A recurrence of these seasons of distress, which have been almost periodical hitherto, must, I fear, be necessarily expected, so long as the present condition of the poor continues, and whilst they subsist on that species of food, which in a year of plenty cannot be stored up for the next, which may be one of scarcity. A very great alleviation, however, of this evil is most confidently expected from the Poor Law now being established. I have conversed on this subject with persons of every class of society, from one end of the country to the other, and it is universally regarded as the promise of a great blessing:—to the poor by inducing more provident and industrious habits; and by making it the interest of the landlords to give them employment; and to all other classes, comfort and contentment, from the knowledge that the really distressed are provided for, and that the country is generally improving by the extension of employment.”