Christine Kinealy analyses the ‘intertwined’ threads of this fated relationship and, as we read, what we experience is like the development of a photograph in a darkroom. A detailed picture of the period begins to emerge in our minds. Two hundred and ninety one perceptive pages are supported by seventy seven pages of footnotes, nearly two thousand in all. Professor Kinealy has scoured all archives, libraries and sources to find every possible skerrick and morsel of documentation to give us added insight into the tragedy as it unfolded and the human response from across the globe in all its manifestations. Even a reference to a £5 donation made by a backwoods lawyer from Springfield Illinois was chased down. (That lawyer later became the 16th President of the United States!)

“Infinite variety” is how David Attenborough described and marvelled about animal and plant life in ‘Life on Earth’ and an ‘infinite variety’ of ‘The Kindness of Strangers’ can be discovered between the covers of Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland. The cornucopia of benevolence therein can be cherry picked by anyone interested in doing further research or it can be used to find anecdotes of goodness for goodness sake. Each chapter begins with a meaningful quote beckoning the reader to enter; an appetiser creating an air of expectancy and anticipation of discovery; of learning.

The good works of the Society of Friends in Ireland and the USA is examined in detail. The indiscriminate benevolence of the Quakers in response to an Gorta Mór is well known. Nearly every book published about this tragedy to some extent mentions the help ‘Friends’ provided to the starving. Helen E. Hatton’s book The Largest Amount of Good in particular, also covers much of this ground. Professor Kinealy, however, brings into the spotlight all major responders to Irish need. For example, the endeavours of the British Relief Association, which, in fact, was the largest (and very successful) charitable organisation involved in providing relief to Ireland, is explored thoroughly.

Prof. Christina Kinealy. Photo Internet

The benevolence of the Association’s(BRA) chief agent, Paul Edmund Strzelecki, features prominently. The impact of the innovative scheme Strzelecki devised for clothing and feeding children through the medium of schools, as well as his hygiene requirements, is described and its positive results assessed. Christine Kinealy documents the huge impact of this simple idea with some of the typical observations made in the many written reports praising the scheme.

The magnificent charitable works of women such as the author Maria Edgeworth and Asenath Nicholson are also given the recognition they deserve, but so too are the thousands of women who anonymously provided a wide range of indispensable services to the needy. A chapter is dedicated to the vital role of the Catholic Church but Protestant benevolence and the benevolence of all major religions around the world is not neglected.

Poignant contrasts heighten our attention. For instance, strict, inflexible and heartless ‘official’ relief is compared to direct, efficient and empathetic ‘private’ relief. The contributions and impact of the elites of Britain and from around the world are juxtaposed with examples of those offering their ‘mite’ despite their own dearth. The gesture of the Choctaw Indians is well-known, but Professor Kinealy provides many other examples such as donations made by slaves, by ‘fallen women’, by low paid workers, and by schoolchildren.

Relief myths, controversies and motivations are scrutinised within the political issues and social attitudes framework of the period. Critics and naysayers - legitimate or not - always exist, but although the criticisms are discussed, Christine Kinealy keeps our focus on the ‘Good Samaritans’ who provided help with purity of soul. The point is made that it wasn’t the mean-spirited groups and individuals who ended the kindness of strangers; some of the attention was redirected to helping Irish immigrants. However, the unprecedented benevolence came to a premature end mainly because of the mistaken perception that the emergency had passed.

Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland has soul. It is an essential companion to any other book about Ireland’s Great Hunger, and, because the author has provided a crisp, clear and concise context – the how, where and why of the Hunger – the book can stand on its own as well. It is a must-read for any serious student, because, for the first time, ‘man’s humanity to man’ during an Gorta Mór is comprehensively, authoritatively and definitively explored.

Felix Molski

This review by Felix Molski has also been published in other media:

Irish American News

Book Depository

The Irish Book Club

Amazon.com

Kopia ok³adki DVD - filmu dokumentalnego o humanitarnej pracy Strzeleckiego w Irlandii

Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek asking Felix Molski "How prominently does Paul Edmund Strzelecki feature in Christine Kinealy’s: ‘Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland’?

- Before answering this question it is important to be cognizant of Christine Kinealy’s stature. Just like Norman Davies is considered to be the leading English speaking expert on Poland, likewise, Christine Kinealy is a world leading authority on Ireland’s Great Hunger. Of the 20 or so books she has had published nearly half of them are about Ireland’s great calamity. In October 2013, Professor Kinealy was appointed founding Director of Ireland's Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut:

Link to the "Founding Director"

- To have a person of Professor Kinealy’s calibre feature Strzelecki’s ‘Good Samaritan’ role so prominently in her new book Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland’ is a HUGE endorsement of him. It should be noted, however, that this is not a book about Strzelecki, rather it is about Charity. In her introduction, Christine Kinealy writes:

Donations were raised in every continent, cutting across national boundaries and economic, political and gender divisions. Those who contributed included Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus. The response was unprecedented in terms of its diversity, magnitude and geographic extent. Financial contributions were made by the rich and influential, including Queen Victoria, the Sultan of Turkey, the president of the United States and Pope Pius IX. However, subscriptions also came from the poorest and most marginalized groups in society, such as ex-slaves in the Caribbean, the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, as well as convicts and `fallen women' in London.

However of the many people whose work was described and efforts praised, none received more attention or higher praise than Strzelecki. Professor Kinealy concludes that:

“Strzelecki, a Polish nobleman with no connection to Ireland, perhaps more than any other individual personified a spirit of selflessness and sacrifice that had helped to save an untold number of Irish lives.”

The following is a paraphrasing of references to Strzelecki in Professor Kinealy’s book.

 * Strzelecki worked gratis
 * Strzelecki struck down by typhus
 * devises a school scheme that proved to be spectacularly successful and popular with givers and receivers
 * hampered by bitterly cold weather he trekked the districts on foot to see firsthand the condition of the people in isolated districts
 * looked for a long term fix diversifying the diet via baked bread rather than concentration of potatoes, sent bakers to teach the forgotten art of bread baking to the peasants
 * witnesses the negative effect of weather on the destitute

 * Strzelecki doubled grants to compensate for government public works closures at a time when soup kitchens were inoperative. Grand Jury in County Kerry described the government decision as a death warrant to the starving. Strzelecki doubling grants at this time was the ‘buffer between life and death’
 * witnessed and wrote of the terrible effect of evictions with people starving and homeless in the bitter cold of winter
 * commented on the culpability of the absentee landlords of particular districts and their failure to help the starving

 * took care to husband resources when the provision of government and non-government relief had improved so that he resources would be available to help should a crisis reemerge
 * A brief background and description of his appointment after volunteering for the BRA
 * Another reference about his determination to witness conditions in isolated districts even going on foot through snowstorms to do so. Examples of his letters expressing what he witnessed
 * Strzelecki saw the inadequate placement of government relief stations which meant that the starving had to walk 50 km to obtain food. Strzelecki instead brought the food closer to the starving people
 * Strzelecki observed the corruption and inefficiency of local relief committees and bypassed them in favour of people who could get the food to the starving people without delay
 * Strzelecki laid low by an infectious disease in early April 1847

 * Strzelecki doubled grants at a time when government was moving from one system of relief to another and in the in between time the starving were left without any government help. Discerning as to who would dispense help. Funds cut off from the corrupt provided to the efficient
 * reference to Strzelecki being praised by government officials for his effective relief work
 * noted again that Strzelecki was making sure resources were not wasted when things were becoming ok in readiness to help when times got worse
 * Strzelecki becomes the central agent for BRA relief to all Ireland
 * tries again to diversify future Irish food sources by distributing free turnip seed to soil tillers
 * reorganised BRA relief system, instead of providing relief through their own facilities the BRA would use government infrastructure to help those falling through government relief cracks in the poorest districts

 * success of Strzelecki’s school scheme in Westport describe securing the cooperation of Catholic and Protestant clergy
 * convinces the BRA directors to extend his successful school scheme across Ireland
 * extracts of letters lauding the success and popularity of the Strzelecki school scheme
 * BRA funds run out but Strzelecki asks for and gets the government to continue the scheme form its own funds but later Trevelyan breaks this promise and refuses making this expenditure
 * extracts of letters full of great praise for Strzelecki’s relief work
 * Strzelecki knighted and the SMH reference is noted comparing its tardiness to the knighthood of Trevelyan
 * Strzelecki returns to Dublin to oversee the distribution on newly raised funds. Comments that conditions now even worse. Spending of funds itemised and low administrative costs can be seen
 * Little attention paid to Strzelecki’s death in Ireland yet “Strzelecki, a Polish nobleman with no connection to Ireland, perhaps more than any other individual personified a spirit of selflessness and sacrifice that had helped to save an untold number of Irish lives.
 * Trevelyan’s constant meddling was a source of frustration to Strzelecki and others
 * Due to the selfless approach of the BRA led by Strzelecki the donated funds reached the people who most needed it
 * Strzelecki was noted as an impartial distributor of relief, leading the largest Irish relief body but despite this little has been written about the BRA or Strzelecki and only modest research has been done on this subject. In popular memory, the work of the BRA is less well known than the work of the Society of Friends.
 * Strzelecki was only one of two men who received official recognition from the British government (Trevelyan was the other). The contrasts: Strzelecki refused any payment but Trevelyan was given a bonus of £2500 on top of his annual salary of £2500 [£200 was approximately the annual income of a worker in England at this time]; Strzelecki endured tough physical demands in his role [walking through blizzards to get to the people in need, exposure to disease, survived typhus] [Trevelyan worked in an office].
 * Quote from William O’Brien of Strzelecki being virtually a household name for helping the suffering poor.

Felix Molski

A letter of Min. Jimmy Deenihan to Felix Molski

From an email of prof. Kinealy "I would have responded sooner, but I have just returned from Ireland, where my book was officially launched in Galway. Everywhere I have visited this week I have spoken about the work of Count Strzelecki - and everybody has been captivated and supports the idea that he should be honoured in some way. The county librarian in County Mayo is one of these people, and I was wondering if we should make an official representation to him and the political representative for Westport?"