This case study of an average market-town in Co. Kerry will examine how the Great Hunger affected Listowel in the years 1845- 51. With hunger and unemployment reaching fever pitch in the winter of 1846, the small farmers and laboring class in Listowel and its vicinity had had enough, and attempted a riot - which was quickly quelled. Conditions in the Workhouse in 1847 went from bad to worse, and by 1851 17,844 people had vanished from the area, either through death or emigration. The story is important not because it is exceptional, but because it represents the typical experience of many Irish towns at that time.

This lecture is part of the Great Hunger Lecture Series we are offering which complements the sculpture exhibition currently on loan to us from Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield Connecticut, and the Quinnipiac Collection.

Elizabeth Stack, PhD, is the executive director of the American Irish Historical Society and her research interests include nineteenth and twentieth century Irish immigration to the US, as well as charitable and fraternal societies in America.

This event is free and open to the public. Doors will open approximately 15 minutes before the event begins.