Many of our ancestors made their way to North America to escape the poverty and hunger of the Irish Great Hunger, many more were to remain in the county and become part of the one million Irish people who died of starvation and disease. Cork city witness recorded shock at poverty and death during the Irish Famine.
On April 12, 1847, during the height of the Great Hunger, The New England Relief Committee sent the USS Jamestown laden with supplies to the starving Irish.