John Mitchell in Galway, 1847
By
In the depth of Winter we travelled to Galway, through the very centre of our fertile island, and saw sights that will never wholly leave the eyes that beheld them; cowering wretches, almost naked in the savage weather, prowling in turnip-fields, and endeavouring to grub up the roots that had been left, but running to hide as the mail-coach rolled by; very large fields, where small farms had been 'consolidated', showing dark bars of fresh mould where the ditches had been levelled; groups and families sitting or wandering on the highroad, with failing steps and dim, patient eyes, gazing hopelessly into infinite darkness; before them, around them, above them, nothing but darkness and despair; parties of tall, brawny men, once the flower of Meath and Galway, stalking by with a fierce but vacant scowl; as if they knew that all this ought not to be, but knew not who to blame, saw none whom they could rend in their wrath; for Lord John Russell sat safe in Chesham Place; and the grand commissioner of the pauper system wove his webs of red tape around them from afar! Around the farmhouses which were still inhabited were to be seen hardly any stacks of grain; it was all gone; the poor rate collector, the rent agent, the county-cess collector, had carried it off. Sometimes I could see in front of the cottages, little children leaning against the fence when the sun shone out - for they could not stand - their limbs fleshless, their bodies half naked, their faces bloated yet wrinkled, and of a pale greenish hue - children who would never, it was too plain, grow up to be men and women.
[James Henry Monahan, a Catholic lawyer was early in 1847, offered the Attorney-General ship of Ireland by the Whig Government. A seat in Parliament being a necessary qualification for holds this office, Sir Valentine Blake of Menlo, a member for Galway, was persuaded to resign and make room for him. O'Connell put up O'Flaherty as an opposing candidate. The Government candidate won the Galway election by four votes, and Mitchell acting as agent for O'Flaherty describes a scene at one of the polling booths;]
A gang of peasants came up, led or driven by the bailiffs. One man, when called upon to swear on his oath that he had not been bribed, showed pitiable agitation. He spoke only Gaelic, and the oath was repeated sentence by sentence by an interpreter. He affected to be deaf, to be stupid, and made continual mistakes. Ten times at least the interpreter began the oath, and as often failed to have it correctly repeated after him. The unfortunate creature looked round wildly, as if he meditated breaking away; but the thought, perhaps, of famishing little ones at home still restrained him. Large drops broke out on his forehead; and it was not stupidity that was in his eyes, but mortal horror.
[Mitchell intervened pointing out that it was obvious that the man had been bribed. The vote was disallowed, and "with a savage whisper, the bailiff who had marshalled him to the poll turned the poor fellow away. ]