Extract from Report of Captain Kennedy - February 11, 1848
"THERE is a concentration of misery and suffering in Moyarta
almost beyond the possibility of grappling with, and daily on the increase. Some idea of
this may be formed from the fact that upwards of 120 houses have been
‘tumbled’ on one property within a few weeks, containing families to a
greater number; many of whom are burrowing behind the ditches, without the means of
procuring a shelter. The relieving officer is intelligent and active, but his duties
cannot possibly be performed by any one individual.
"At Carrigaholt and the division of Moyarta, misery and suffering are no less rife,
and death quite as busy.
"I scrutinized a list of 575 families here, and saw each individual; their
lamentable state of filth, ignorance, destitution, and disease, must be seen to be
comprehended. It is hopeless for the very few respectable residents to struggle against
such an overwhelming mass. On one estate alone, little short of 200 houses have
been ‘tumbled’ within three months, and 120 of this number, I believe, within
three weeks! The wretched, houseless, helpless inmates, for the most part an amphibious
race of fishermen and farmers, scattering disease, destitution, and dismay in every
direction."
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