As recorded in newspapers that were published in Dublin [Freeman’s Journal, Dublin Evening Mail] between 1 January 1845 and 31 December 1850 and that are available through the British Newspaper Archive.
Count including ads and family notices
Count excluding ads and family notices
Those charts are a few years old; I must redo them. I suspect that the two terms I’ve used, “famine” and “potato”, don’t capture the full extent of famine reporting: I should perhaps add other terms (eg “distress”).
I have mentioned Isaac Weld before., in the context of his sailing the Lakes of Killarney in a boat made of brown paper. He was also one of the first people, at least in Europe, to take a long sea voyage in one of the newfangled steamboats as a passenger rather than a crew member. Even better, he left an account of his journey.
One George Dodd was taking a steamer, originally called the Argyle, from the Clyde (where steamers came from) to the Thames, after which he renamed the boat. This was in 1815, only three years after Henry Bell‘s Comet began the first commercially successful steamboat service in Europe. [The first such service in America was inaugurated in 1807 by Robert Fulton, who was mentioned here the other day.]
Dodd took the steamer into Dublin en route to London and Isaac Weld, greatly interested, decided to travel on board for the rest of the trip. Weld’s wife, née Alexandra Hope, decided to accompany him; she may have been the first woman, at least in Europe, to take a long sea trip on a steam boat.
Here is a version of Weld’s account of his trip, as published in the Belfast Commercial Chronicle on 24 April 1816. It may have been translated from English to French and back again.
Posted in Engineering and construction, Foreign parts, Historical matters, Ireland, Passenger traffic, Sea
Tagged Alexandra Hope, Argyle, Dublin, George Dodd, Isaac Weld, London, steam, Thames
On Friday 23 February 1827 Viscount Lorton, holding a Petition in his hand, addressed the House of Lords.
My Lords, in rising to request permission to lay upon your Lordships’ table a Petition from the Protestants of the county of Sligo, I shall beg leave to say a very few words upon the subject matter it contains.
In the first place, I must premise by observing, that it has the signatures of nearly (or entirely) the whole body of the resident Gentlemen, and in the strongest but most respectful language prays that no further concessions may be granted to the Roman Catholics of Ireland. With my countrymen, my Lords, I most decidedly concur; but at the same time think it necessary to stand forward as an advocate for Emancipation, though not exactly for the description of persons who have for so many years been urging claims hostile to the Constitution in no very qualified terms.
No, my Lords, those for whom I would claim this boon are the Protestants of Ireland, who, I do not hesitate to affirm, are at this moment the most oppressed portion of the British subjects. In fact, they are a proscribed people, and if some strong measures are not adopted for their relief and security, all who are capable must leave the country, and we may expect to hear of the remainder being annihilated in one way or another.
It may be unnecessary for me to inform your Lordships, that a Roman Catholic Parliament has been permitted to sit in Dublin, from nearly the period of passing an Act in this House for putting down the late Roman Catholic Association, and that it is of a much more dangerous nature, in as much as it combines the entire mass, from the highest to the lowest. At first the higher order seemed to stand aloof, but no sooner did the founders of this tremendous engine contrive to enlist under their banners the clergy, than all ranks, from the highest peer downwards, were put into requisition, and from that time have exhibited as much zeal in the cause as the most furious demagogue in the land: such is their infatuation, and such, my Lords, is the very extraordinary power and controul that the Pope maintains over the hearts and understandings of those who belong to his church.
Having said thus much of the Dublin Convention, I must further observe, that, at its sittings, the most bitter denunciations are uttered against every thing that is Protestant, both as to the public institutions as against individuals, who, in the most cowardly manner, are held up to the detestation of the Romish peasantry, by the propagation of every species of the most malignant falsehood, and are thus marked as fit subjects for assassination, when a proper opportunity may occur.
My Lords, the philippics of Messrs O’Connell and Sheil are, no doubt, familiar to most of your Lordships, but more particularly the base and dastardly observations of the latter person, when our late Illustrious and lamented Commander-in-Chief was lying on his death-bed!
My Lords, it is difficult to think or speak upon the subject with patience; the speeches of these people have so excited the country, that the general opinion is a rebellion must take place. Should such a calamity befall the land, I trust, my Lords, the strongest measures will at once be taken to prevent any of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Association from leaving Ireland, for no doubt they will be among the first who will endeavour to make their escape from the mischief they have occasioned. But, my Lords, they should be forced to fight it out, and should not be permitted to leave their poor deluded victims to the just vengeance of the Government.
Some of these bitter enemies to the British Protestant Constitution have pointed out in the most exulting manner, that the invasion of Ireland by a foreign foe would now be an easy matter, in consequence of the perfection that the navigation by steam had been brought to. But here, my Lords, they have shewn their ignorance nearly in as strong a manner as their malignity; for never was there a discovery made which so completely secures Ireland from being taken by surprise by a hostile power, in as much as hundreds of thousands of gallant British soldiers could be landed and set in motion against an enemy in the course of from ten to twenty hours; and it should also be told these threatening boasters, that one British Company possesses more steam vessels than all Europe besides.
[cont p94]
From the Morning Post 24 February 1827
All over the course of the Shannon the snowstorm was of the utmost severity. The Grand Canal Company had practically to suspend traffic, and steamers arriving at Portumna from Killaloe and Limerick report the roughest weather yet experienced on Lough Derg.
The steamer Dublin, bound from Shannon Harbour to Limerick with three barges in tow, loaded with 40 tons each of porter for Messrs A Guinness and Co’s stores, Limerick, was almost wrecked on Wednesday, but for the promptitude and presence of mind of the steamer’s crew.
She was nearing Parker’s Point, on the Clare [sic] side of the lake, when the storm was raging fiercest, and this being one of the most unsheltered spots in the course of the Shannon, heavy waves came rolling over the tug and barges and tossed them about. The strain broke the ropes which kept them in tow, and two boats with their crews broke away and went adrift, and were at the mercy of the waves.
The captain of the steamer Dublin (Patrick Moran), seeing the perilous position of the boats and crews, steered with the one boat which he had then in tow to the Tipperary side, and anchored her there in shelter, and again set out to the rescue of the two drifting barges, and after a severe struggle succeeded in getting to their rescue just as they were drifting on to the rocks at the point mentioned.
There were twenty tons each of porter stowed on the decks, and this was promptly secured by covers and lashed by ropes to rings, but notwithstanding this the barrels of porter, from the tossing about of the boats, broke through the covers and lash lines, and were lost on Lough Derg. The steamer’s master again got the barges in tow, and succeeded in bringing them on to Killaloe.
The Irish Times 31 December 1906
The steam ferry barge, the property of Messrs J R Russell and Sons, which plies across the Shannon from Russell’s-quay to Lansdowne spinning mills, and which was got up for the convenience and conveyance of the factory operatives in the employ of the firm, was boarded during last night (Sunday) as she lay at the north side of the river, by some person or persons unknown, and maliciously injured to a considerable extent. She was not only scuttled, but the machinery was broken and some of the gear removed and taken away, so that the barge has become temporarily disabled. Portions of the machinery are said to have been found in the river, where they were thrown by the miscreants. This is the second attempt that has been made to damage this ferry since she was put on the river.
Cork Examiner 27 April 1869
Posted in Extant waterways, Historical matters, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Passenger traffic, Shannon, Steamers
Tagged barge, ferry, Lansdowne, Limerick, Russell, Shannon, spinning, steam, thug, vandal
That’s November’s talk at the Killaloe-Ballina historical society; details here and an account of Sandra Lefroy’s talk about the Phoenix here.
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Canals, Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Historical matters, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Passenger traffic, People, Politics, Rail, Restoration and rebuilding, Shannon, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, The grain trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Heal and Son have just completed the erection of machinery for the purifying of feathers on a new principle, by which the offensive properties of the quill are evaporated and carried off in steam; thereby, not only are the impurities of the feather itself entirely removed, but they are rendered quite free from the unpleasant smell of the stove, which all new feathers are subject to that are dressed in the ordinary way.
Old beds re-dressed by this process are perfectly freed from all impurities, and by expanding the feathers the bulk is greatly increased, and consequently the bed rendered much softer.
The following are the present prices of new feathers:
Mixed, 1s per lb
Grey Goose, 1s 4d per lb
Foreign Grey Goose, 1s 8d per lb
Best foreign Grey Goose, 2s per lb
Best Irish White Goose, 2s 6d per lb
Best Dantzic White Goose, 3s per lb
Heal and Son’s List of Bedding, containing full particulars of weights, sizes, and prices, sent free by post, on application to their establishment, 196, opposite the Chapel, Tottenham-court-road.
Daily News, London 24 October 1846
Posted in Ashore, Economic activities, Ireland
Here is a piece about the Aaron Manby, the first iron steamer to make a sea voyage, and its links to Irish inland waterways transport.
The piece was first published in the rally magazine of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland Lough Derg Branch in July 2017.
Posted in Charles Wye Williams, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Foreign parts, Historical matters, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Operations, Passenger traffic, People, Sea, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The cattle trade, Tourism, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Aaron Manby, Charles Napier, Charles Wye Williams, Irish Sea, iron, John Grantham, John Oldham, Liverpool, Shannon, steam
I was thinking of buying a (secondhand) copy of Juliana Adelman and Éadaoin Agnew eds Science and technology in nineteenth-century Ireland Four Courts Press, Dublin 2011. But, even though the secondhand copy was much, much cheaper even than the publishers’ reduced price, I thought I should check what I’d be getting for my money. I therefore had a look at the contents list, which I reproduce here having nicked it from the publishers’ web page:
The list of contents
Is it just me, or is there a big gap there? How can you discuss nineteenth-century technology without an extended discussion of steam power, whether in ships, on railways, for drainage or in mills and other manufactories?
Posted in Ashore, Built heritage, Canals, Charles Wye Williams, Drainage, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Extant waterways, Historical matters, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Irish inland waterways vessels, Irish waterways general, Operations, Passenger traffic, People, Rail, Sea, Shannon, shannon estuary, Sources, Steamers, The turf trade, Ulster Canal, waterways, Waterways management
Tagged Ireland, nineteenth century, power, science, steam, technology
Mr Mullins, MP for Kerry, has made a very important discovery in the scientific world, that of applying galvanism, instead of steam, for propelling vessels and carriages. He is now building a carriage upon this principle, and several of the first engineers, who have seen it, say there is every prospect of success, and that it will supersede steam. — Limerick Star. The Dublin Evening Post claims the merit of this invention for the Rev J W M’Gawley, one of the clergymen of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in that city, who, that Journal says, explained it at the meeting of the British Association of Science there last August. “The discovery,” proceeds our Dublin contemporary, “has excited considerable interest amongst the savans of Germany by Mr M’Gawley’s interesting and important invention, which is to form one of the most attractive features of the proceedings of the British Association at its approaching meeting in Bristol.”
Berkshire Chronicle 13 August 1836
How nice to know that a current MP TD for Kerry, noted for his scientific knowledge, is continuing a great tradition.
Posted in Ashore, Canals, Economic activities, Engineering and construction, Historical matters, Industrial heritage, Ireland, Modern matters, People, Politics
Tagged carriage, galvanism, Kerry, M'Gauley, M'Gawley, McGauley, McGawley, MP, Mullins, propulsion, science, steam, TD, vessel
Irish waterways history 