The intensity of the Great Famine in the Cappamore area of Co Limerick could be measured by the fact that between 1841 and 1851 the town and its hinterland lost 47 per cent of its population, Dr Liam Ryan, Professor of Sociology at Maynooth, said yesterday.
A native of the area, he said the scale of the catastrophe was not even matched by the Skibbereen Union in Co Cork, which lost 36 per cent of its people, and it was acknowledged to have been one of the most severely hit regions in Ireland.
Prof Ryan, president of the Cappamore Historical Association, was unveiling a bronze plaque in Cappamore, depicting a family scene from the famine days by the Malahide, Co Dublin, sculptor, Michael Killen, which was mounted on a rock.
He pointed out that 250 families or 1,500 individuals disappeared off the Cappamore map during the famine years. The parish had an unusually high percentage of labourers who were dependent on the potato for their existence.
The chairman of the Historical Association, Mr Oliver Dillon, said the Great Famine saw its darkest period 150 years ago, during what was called Black '47. Understanding the Famine and why it happened was important to understanding the pervasive crisis of starvation which was now seen and heard through the medium of press and television and which continued in many places throughout the world.
He said the effects of famine, disease and emigration almost halved the population in Cappamore and added: "I believe the effects of humiliating dependency on the local landlords and government officials left deep scars imprinted on the minds and souls of those who survived the holocaust and got on with their lives after the famine, however painful it may have been."