On famine and fever as cause and effect in Ireland : with observations on hospital location, and the dispensation in outdoor relief of food and medicine / by D.J. Corrigan.

  • Corrigan, Dominic John, 1802-1880.
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On famine and fever as cause and effect in Ireland : with observations on hospital location, and the dispensation in outdoor relief of food and medicine / by D.J. Corrigan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    As we continue our review, we find supplies of food still exhibiting the power of warding off Fever. In Dublin the epidemic was later in its appearance than in any other part of Ireland. The distress of the poor came more imme- diately under the observation of the opulent. The rich, greater in proportion in their number than in the country, came forward freely, and contributed liberally to relieve the sufferers. Almost as soon as the effects of the bad harvest of 1816 were perceived, employment was provided for the poor. A committee was selected from the humane and wealthy of the city, called, from their place of meeting, the Mansion House Committee. By their exertions, the evil effects of want were comparatively but little felt in the city, and Fever was kept at a distance. Dublin was thus, by ac- tive exertion, circumstanced as the towns in Connaught already described, and it was not until the occurrence of the second bad harvest, that of 1817, that the epidemic ap- peared in the capital. Fever was now, September, 1817, universally diffused over the country, and continued unaba- ted until the autumn of 1818, when a fine harvest brought an abundant supply of good provisions. We have in this epidemic, Fever following Famine as closely as effect can follow cause, in every instance the appearance and prevalence of the one, being an indication of the com-’ mencement, and extent of the other. The next epidemic wmrthy of note, is that of 1826. The summer of 1825 was very unproductive. The great drought checked the growth of all crops. Potatoes were particularly deficient. In the commencement of the winter, by a sudden reverse of trade, more than 20,000 weavers in the liberties of Dublin were thrown out of employment. Epidemic Fever appeared. The distress of the people in- creased during the summer, so did Fever, and in the autumn and winter of 1826, when distress had reached its acme, so had Fever attained a height equal to that of 1817. In the summer of 1827, the epidemic began to decline, and in the autumn of the same year disappeared. Pro- vidence blessed the country with a most productive har-