Inequities. The rich get richer and the poor get the scraps. Until the chasm gets so wide the system collapses. It is a tale as old as time. People get richer and over time they lose sight of the labor and infrastructure that supports them. They want more for themselves and take more from those that have little. Scarcities occur, in turn making everyone less willing to share. But it is cooperation that communicates thrive. Conditions for economic success are well documented. But many humans are a suspicious and greedy lot. Many are also exceedingly generous and self-sacrificing.

Strokestown Park and the National Famine Center in Strokestown, Ireland tells the story of starvation and plenty. A grand mansion. Starving tenants. Murder. And mass deportation.

The estate was given to the Mahon family in 1666 and grew over time to 26,000 acres in county Roscommon. A great house was built on the foundations of a ruined castle at the end of the 17th century. Over time, the operation of the estate was turned over to land agents who subdivided plots into smaller and smaller sections making it impossible for tenants to farmers to make a living. It did however increase rents for the land agents and the family in the great house. .. at least in the short term.

The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Entire families were subsisting on water and potatoes. And then even the potatoes failed. The workers petitioned for reform. Over 3,000 were evicted. The Mahons, realizing that the estate could not support the number of tenants now on the land, offered to pay for the poor to immigrate. Documents reveal this was an economic decision as it was cheaper to deport than provide assistance to people who could not pay rent.

So while life in the big house moved on, 1,600 people prepared to immigrate. While their ticket was paid, the overseer determined that it would be best if the sick and starving tenants walked the 100 miles from Strokestown to Dublin. No need to waste any more money. Once in Dublin, the poor were shuttled to Liverpool to await transport to the America’s. Unaccustomed to city life, the tenants turned immigrants were easy prey. Many lost what little possessions and supplies they had before they ever set foot on the boats secured for crossing the Atlantic.

The ships procured were bare bones and designed for profit. More people meant more money for the captain. Conditions were so bad, they earned the nickname of “coffin ships”. One vessel carrying Strokestown tenants, the Virginius, left the quay with 486 people. Upon arrival in Canada, 158 had died on the crossing. Another 106 were gravely ill with many dying in the months that followed.

With stories of the horrors making its way back home and conditions slow to improve, Strokestown tenants became increasingly agitated. Mahon was murdered as he was returning to the estate sending shockwaves throughout Ireland.

Tragedy abounds in this story. Where should we go for answers? Did the tenants mismanage the land? Were the land agents too greedy and sub-divide the land into plots too small to farm? Did the landowners ignore the estate and fail to turn profits into improvements to benefit the estate and its workers? Did the owners deport inconvenience? Did the ships captains exploit the helpless? Did the government turn a blind eye on a national problem? Did God ignore the cry of the hopeless?

There are no definitive answers at Strokestown….only questions. There are thousands of preserved documents that allow a brief glimpse into a time of despair and turmoil. It is a cautionary tale of what happens when greed and self interest over takes empathy and compassion. The truth is that when everyone has enough, economies are self sustaining. We thrive together. Rampant self interest always leads to societal decline. Perhaps we will never learn.

“The [consistently] righteous man knows and cares for the rights of the poor, but the wicked man has no interest in such knowledge.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭7‬ ‭

“For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hands to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor in your land.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭15‬:‭11‬

“He who oppresses the poor to get gain for himself and he who gives to the rich–both will surely come to want.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭16‬ ‭