October 22nd, 1846: It is distressing to hear the number of poor going about this town saying they are starving, a correspondent writes in the Belfast Vindicator.
A Castlewellan correspondent considers there is no real sympathy among the landlords for the people.
The able bodied men stand idle, while their wives and children grow.
"Owing to the extraordinary wetness of the season, turf cannot be procured - coals are lout of the question, and the poor have thus the double pressure of hunger and cold to bear up against; while the rich wrap themselves up in their own importance and shun their dependants as a plague.
"The continual cry among the small farmers is, `What in the world are we to do!' The rent is being called for, in some instances, with merciless perseverance. Add the prospect of being turned out of their holdings, to that of depriving themselves of the means of sustenance, and you will be able to form an opinion of the feelings of the poor farmers in this district.
"The bodings of the cottiers and day labourers are melancholy in the extreme; their accustomed food is gone, and no substitute forthcoming. Their usual wages would require to be trebled to be of any sufficient service whatever; it is provokingly barbarous to offer them 5d or 10d per day, and yet none of the farmer class is able to pay more.
"A County Down man" concludes that the landlords of the locality should not be allowed to "shab" away to England and leave their tenants to the mercies of "heartless, ignorant bog bailiffs and screwing agents, whose pay depends on the amount wrung from the unfortunate class committed to their charge".
October 26th: The impact of the partial potato failure of 1845 and the virtually total loss this year is disrupting the relationship between farmers and their bound labourers. Traditionally, such labourers have been willing to work in exchange for a potato patch and a cabin. But with their potato gardens withered by the blight, money wages have become essential if they are to avoid starvation. The widespread refusal of farmers to pay wages is forcing labourers to surrender their plots and flee to the public works or, as a last resort, to the workhouses.
Furthermore, there is a massive default by unbound labourers in the payment of conacre rents. Cottiers and small farmers are compelled to dispose of their stock.
Archbishop Michael Slattery of Cashel writes to the Viceroy, Lord Bessborough, appealing for an end to the delay in starting the public works.
The Rev G.M. Massy, of Charleville, Co Cork, confirms that the method of appointing stewards and overseers on the public works is being grossly abused. People who have influence with members of relief committees are appointed, "without the slightest reference either to qualification or character".