The Truth behind the Irish Famine a book review

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE IRISH FAMINE (3rd Edition) by Jerry Mulvihill a book review by J.C. Sullivan Author Frank Delaney once wrote "To have come from Ireland, no matter how long ago, is to be of Ireland in some part forever.” The Great Hunger (An Gorta Mor) is part of our Irish history. With firsthand oral and written accounts of those years, Jerry Mulvihill's third edition of The Truth Behind the Irish Famine infuses an authentic history of heartbreaking life and death. When I offered to review this book, I was unaware of the immensity of Mulvihill's research and work. His epic is a labor of love and I opine it has now become the primer and most comprehensive narrative of the Irish Famine. His research spans from ancient Ireland through post-famine years. In addition to numerous paintings and sketches not previously seen in the first two editions, the first-person oral and handwritten accounts of those years will stir your emotions. The author includes the observation of Englishmen in Ireland as early as 1783 with German Travel Writer Karl Gottlob Kuttner’s first-hand commentary: "As soon as certain Englishmen set foot in Ireland they obtain an air of importance that often contrasts quite ludicrously with the actual situation and circumstances at home. Full of base national prejudices they look at everything through tinted glasses, onstruct deficiencies and shortcomings where they find none and then admire their own perspicacity. Bursting with the idea of the real and true greatness of their own country, they think themselves as superior to each Irish individual as sees England as superior to Ireland" The attitude toward and treatment of the Irish only worsened as the famine did. In 1843, Charles Trevelyan who later became the English Relief Officer during the famine, claimed that assistance to the Irish was unwarranted as the famine was a "judgement of God" for the "perverse and turbulent character" of the Irish people. The Irish people, farmers with no crop and animal stock confiscated, were then expected to pay exorbitant rents. When unable to pay rent, families were evicted and their dwelling places destroyed. Josephine Butler, a social reformer, wrote in 1846 "Sick and aged, little children and women with child were thrust forth into the snows of winter. And to prevent their return their cabins were levelled to the ground and burned the few remaining tenants were forbidden to receive the outcast ... the majority rendered penniless by the famine, wandered aimlessly about the roads or bogs till they found refuge in the workhouse or the grave. " With the widespread land evictions came widespread criticism. In deense of the English, Lord Broughman made a speech on March 28, 1846 in the House of Lord stating that a landlord's right to do as he pleases was meant to teach and strong-arm tenants so as assure "that they have no power to oppose or resist." By 1847, eviction in Ireland became synonymous with extermination, according to Sidney Osborne, an English cleric, philanthropist, and writer. Jerry Mulvihill's anthology of historical writings and speeches meticulously illustrate and eloquently voices how Irish families were destroyed by the famine, of how their spirits were meant to be broken, of how suffering often ended in death, and of how these stories are very much a part of who we are. It is difficult to read and learn about the anguish our forefathers suffered at the hands of oppressors, yet it is our history and should be known among us. The collection of thoughts and feelings of famine writers and artists expressed within Mulvihill's work is powerful and can shake you to your marrow as well as increasingly awaken your identity. Mulvihill has dedicated himself to preserving our history and raising our consciousness. He wrote: "The Irish people who passed away during the famine have a story that needs to be told and fully understood. It is of the utmost importance that their suffering was not in vain. May they humble and remind us how fortunate we are today. Let them awaken us to the suffering that still exists within entire populations. They will never be forgotten." For inquiries visit www.jerrymulvihill.com. Sullivan, internationally-published, writes from Northfield Village, Ohio.

Masters of Deceit - an expose of International Communism.

 The Left controls Corporate Media aka Mainstream Media. You do realize that the majority of our nation’s populace form their World View solely from them.

I have tried for some time to find J. Edgar Hoover’s title “The Big Lie.” Perhaps memory is not serving me. Instead, from Alibris.com, I have ordered his ‘Masters of Deceit.’ It’s topic is the same. 

It would be good for the nation to read it as well. It doesn’t hurt for Americans of inquisitive mind to become aware of just what International Communism is. 

When the book arrives in the mail I will review and publish it here.

Our formerly straight-shooting FBI and the 2020 Presidential Election.

 It’s interesting to see the FBI Now jumping late into the 2020 Presidential Campaign. They have proclaimed Russia and Iran have compromised the American electorate. What utter nonsense to believe that they can convince us to change our mind. Hell,  our own Enemy of the People, the MSM, is doing that for them.

Communists have penetrated our MSM and the highest Offices of our nation.

Keep in mind that the FBI is rife with Obama appointees who keep scurrying to cover their collective asses. Extend that to the CIA and beyond. 

Censorship in America in late 2020

 Conservative Facebook and Twitter users found these social platforms to be THE place to express their collective thoughts and feelings. Now, with a laptop computer becoming a major story about Hunter Biden, these platforms are restricting the reporting of the story by its users. It’s  called censorship, exactly what government-controlled media in communist countries do.

After the election I opine the incoming DJT Administration will initiate anti-trust actions against them. Ohio’s “Ma” Bell telephone Co. was broken up by the Feds this way. I further believe the same is now destined to occur in 2021.

The radical Left is taking all the arrows from their quivers...all this because they never imagined DJT would be elected.  It’s called desperation because more rocks are being lifted to reveal what has been hidden for far too long. “The jig is up!”

Captain Clement Sulevane, CSA

In reading ‘To Appomattox, Nine April Days, 1865’, I found reference to Captain Clement Sulivane, CSA.

On page 110 -

Captain Clement Sullivan of the Local Brigade was sent by General Ewell to muster his troops, some of the clerks and convalescent soldiers, and to supply them with food and arms.  Sulivane worked all evening herding together all his men, but after hours of maddening effort he had fewer than 200 left from 1200. The battalions melted as fast as he assembled, for heads of departments, packing for flight, called all employees and sent sent them westward with trunks and boxes. The carriages and wagons were gone.

Page 128 -

In the flaming of the bridge, the shouting of the mob and the advance of the enemy, there was such confusion that no one knew which troops were the last to cross the bridge, but Captain Clement Sulivane saw General Kershaw at the rear of his South Carolina troops at about the time General Ewell and Haskell went over.

Kershaw tipped his hat to Suulivane, “All over, he yelled. “Goodbye. Blow her to hell.”

Sulivane watched his men throw lighted lighted faggots on the planks before they fell back.

Through Sullivan's Eye

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10217255597761332&id=1213405276

DEFUND POLICE DEPARTMENTS?

If you spot someone trying to steal your car don’t call 911.
Call your Councilman or Councilwoman.

JUST WHAT IS SYSTEMATIC RACISM?

I’m wondering just what is mean by it. I was out and about in my community yesterday. I didn’t see or hear anyone shouting anything about hating people who are different than they are. Does it mean they all silently harbor feelings of hate but just don’t show it.

Then I came home and watched the evening news from Washington, New York and other cities. And there I learned about what is being said about “systematic” racism.

It applies to countless young black children who grow up in what are loosely defined as black “homes.” Children who grow into undisciplined adulthood, who would take from you what they can, including your very own life.

It applies to the have nots who want to have, yet are clueless as to what road will get them there. Rather, race-baiters such as Al Sharpton are given a pulpit to express so-called black indignation because we white folks are the problem because we hate them.

It applies to the black culture that we read or hear about each and every weekend, Chicago being only one example. It’s this which prompts white folks to hate the actions of black folks and thereby bad feelings about blacks are created.

It applies to black folks who loot and burn without regard to property and the inherent unemployment that follows such destruction.

It applies to the voices of black leadership not being heard. American mainstream media would rather focus on misplaced headlines and thus encourage rage to be expressed for their cameras, narrative and agenda

Is this what systematic racism is?

Do Our Flags Mean Anything Anymore?

As I sat in a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court I pondered the symbolism of two flags hanging vertically behind the judge's bench. One was the Ohio flag and the other our national flag.

Given the state of anarchy, I opine, that exists in the administrations of  cities and the state government of California and elsewhere, with nobody accepting responsibility for defending our Constitution, our laws and the safety of the majority of our citizens, I wonder if our flags hold meaning anymore.

Fr. Peter Whelan, O.S.B., A Confederate Chaplain

Father Peter Whelan, A Chaplain of the Confederacy

by

J.C. Sullivan

To describe the life and times of one immigrant to the American South could be also be aptly titled "Holy Men in Modern Times." One chapter would describe Wexford-born Peter Whelan. Oh, he was human, to be sure, but his devotion to God and his fellow man is evident in the way he chose to live his life. He was also a Confederate Chaplain to Irish-Americans in the Montgomery Guards, part of the 1st Georgia Volunteers.

    Peter Whelan was born in 1802 in County Wexford, Ireland. He attended Birchfield College in Kilkenny for two years, where he received classical and mathematical education. He may have been influenced by the desperate appeal of John England, the bishop of the new diocese of Charleston, South Carolina. Priests were sorely needed, particularly in the South. He was ordained a priest of the Benedictine Order in Charleston on November 21, 1830. He offered his first Mass in the state of Georgia in 1835 in the home of Robert Semmes. In 1854 a yellow fever epidemic claimed the life of Savannah's first Bishop, Frances Gartland. Father Whelan was summoned to Savannah and was stationed there for the remainder of his life.

     In September 1861 Bishop Augustine Verot was named the third Bishop of the Savannah Diocese, which was formed in 1850. Arriving at his new post from Florida, he was asked to send a chaplain to Fort Pulaski. The Fort, on the Savannah
River, guarded the approaches to the city. It was thought to be impregnable as no artillery shells could be directed at it from any nearby land.   Part of the garrison there were Catholic troops, in particular the Montgomery Guards, mostly Irish from Savannah.

     The militia unit was organized on August 20, 1861. Not having their own banner, Captain Lawrence J. Guilmartin contacted the Sisters of Mercy in Savannah. After Mass on Saint Patrick's Day, 1862, a presentation ceremony was held. Private Bernard O'Neill was appointed standard-bearer and Major John Foley presented it to him.

   Father Whelan was present on April 10, 1862 when Federal forces began an artillery bombardment of the Fort. Using new 'rifled' artillery, the rounds were able to reach the outer walls from Tybee Island, more than a mile away. Thirty hours later, with one wall breached by the shot, it was determined that the entire ammunition magazine was in danger of exploding, If that happened the entire garrison would be killed. Colonel Charles H. Olmstead agreed to surrender. Now prisoners-of-war, Father Whelan and the Montgomery Guards were transported to Governor's Island, New York. Bernard O'Neill hid the banner on his person.

     Wartime conditions persisted for prisoners and Father Whelan, through the office of Father William Quinn, pastor of St. Peter's Church, Barclay St., New York, applied for the position of Prison Chaplain so he could offer daily Mass at Castle William. Through Father Quinn he was discharged and put on parole. Father Whelan could have left but he chose to remain with his men and minister to them. He eventually returned to Savannah where the Vicar General assigned him the task of overseeing the spiritual needs of the confederate military posts in Georgia.

On one occasion another Confederate chaplain, the Reverend James Sheeran of the Fourteenth Louisiana, on leave from Virginia, visited him. In his diary he observed,  "He stands nearly six feet with drab hair, coarse ill shaped countenance, round or swinging shoulders, long arms, short body and long legs, with feet of more than ordinary size.... One day he met a brother priest, to whom nature was no more liberal than to himself. "Well," said he, "...your mother and mine must have been women of great virtue....because they did not drown us when the first saw us. None but mothers of great...patience would have raised such ugly specimens of humanity."

  

  

During May of the same year Fr. William Hamilton, pastor of Assumption Church in Macon, accidentally came upon Andersonville Prison and stopped to learn how many Catholics were there. His experience led him to petition the Vicar, suggesting a priest be provided; Father Whelan was asked. He arrived at Andersonville on June 16, 1864. Even though other priests and the Bishop visited briefly, Whelan remained for four months.  Although he never penned his feelings, a pastor from Macon did. "I found the stockade extremely filthy:  the men all huddled together and covered with vermin....they had nothing under them but the ground."

     At the fall of the Confederacy, Father Whelan returned to Savannah and served there until 1868. Now aged sixty-nine and in failing health from his wartime tribulations, he administered his last baptism in 1871 and died in February of the same year.

The funeral procession was reported in the Savannah Evening News as the longest ever seen in the city. After a 10:00 a.m. Mass a procession of  eighty-six carriages and buggies of civilians, religious societies and Irish organizations escorted his mortal remains through Savannah's crowd-lined streets to the Catholic Cemetery. Colonel Olmstead led Confederate Army and Navy veterans. An officer who knew Father Whelan said, "I followed this good old man to his grave with a sense of exultation as I thought of the welcome that awaited him from the Master whose spirit he had caught and made the rule of his life."

Bibliography

Gillian Bowen, Diocese of Savannah

Father Whelan of Fort Pulaski and Andersonville, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Spring, 1987.

The Great Divider

Ex-President Obama has announced he will speak at the University of Chicago. I expect we will hear anti-Trump rhetoric that the MSM will suck up gleefully, pronouncing the second coming. I predict his words will be intended to further divide the nation.

The Democratic Party has become an entity with an agenda of hate, lies and intrigue. Those who they front as " leaders" spout stale ideas that don't gain them any votes. They've lost and don't know what to say or do except continue their ridiculous and derogatory commentary on the Trump machine and those who pit him in the White House.

Obama's upcoming speech in Chicago will be an attempt to light the way but it won' t work because they have the wrong people in the wrong offices. The archaic dinosaursclike Pelosi and Schurmer et al enjoy their power too much and conservative Democrats are not given any other voting alternatives.

"They don't go easily."

As a young man I followed news events both here and abroad. It must be something in my Irish genetic makeup.

I recall seeing the crowds in Europe and North Africa at protests against their respective governments. You know, the signs they carried and paper mache heads. It was called communist agitation.

With the rise of a "new" majority in the U.S., and the Velvet Revolution the election of Donald John Trump signifies, we're seeing what the formerly captive nations of Europe have been saying, "Communists don't go easily."

As that aforesaid young man never understood was those European protestors, like those who will show up in Washington, DC on the 2017 Inaugeration Day, were all getting a paycheck for being there.

Our beloved IRS and SEC et al have their ways of fattening their own wallets. Perhaps our new revoluntionary government will have ways to lighten the wallets of those individuals and entities who are behind the chaos being created that disturbs our peace.

The closing legacy - Scamming America

During the closing days of his administration, our outgoing President has managed to seize the agenda. Our MSM, who has tried to destroy Donald Trump, continues to aid and abet POTUS' intention. Just what IS his intention?

I saw his actions described as throwing a match over his shoulder as he leaves the scene...and it appears he's successful. These distractions are about putting roadblocks in DJT's path and diverting energy and American eyes away from the success of the Trump revolution.

This Russia thing is bullshit. Like lustful and oversexed teenage boys, they've been trying to get into each other's pants for a long time. In the case of Russia, it goes back before their spies stole the atomic bomb secrets from us. And they didn't quit even then. American traitors are in prison because they enriched themselves by selling technical information.

The Democratic Party certainly didn't help matters when DNC leaders used the word 'password' as their computer password. They must have been watching old movies when Matthew Broderick did the same thing in high school to change is report card grades.

Nonetheless, our MSM is twisting everything into a witch hunt against outPresident-elect. However, I predict the American Heartland will not fall for it, just as we didn't fall for the propaganda foisted upon us with the adoration of Hilary Clinton.

Conversely, Americans look at Russia and others as well. Do you think Russia, for example, has been as dumb about cyber security as the DNC has been? During WWII we were listening to Japanese naval information, something that obviously helped us win the war in the Pacific. And we didn't stop there.

So, in the closing days of the Obama administration, he does things he could've done long before. The Russian seizure of the Crimean peninsula comes to mind, as do the supposed Ukrainian "separatists." I won't go back as far the Katyn Forest murders of thousands of Polish soldiers, priests and "intellectuals" during WWII.

As a result of their history of deceit, murder and expansion, the Russian communists cannot be trusted. President recognized their when he coined "Trust but verify."

Elininating the Electoral College.

They've been throwing everything up to the ceiling to see what would might stick in vain attempts to explain why they lost.  None of we deplorables are buying it. So, what's next in their bag of tricks.

Well, they seem to have exhausted their ideas so  it appears to me they're going to take four years to tell us we are not a republic but a democracy. And it should be one man one vote., meaning we've got to eliminate the Elector College.

We in the homeland will happily challenge any fights they begin!

Our Errors in Syria

We are the cause of the destruction and grief in Syria.

They have long been in Russia's sphere yet we took sides to oust their leader. Russia was not about to let that happen. So, why are we screwing around there?

Unfortunately, former President Jimmy Carter lost Iran to the mullahs when we abandoned the Pro-western Shah of Iran. Russia moved in and we now have the problems there we didn't have before. Before this, Saudi Arabia was our ally. Even their King commented that we didn't know who our friends were.

The Trump administration must begin to repair the relationships we had before the Leftist Democrats gained power here and ruined them. What's at stake?

One of the major pillars of our economy is oil. And our nation runs on foreign oil; that's a fact. We are going to have to build our own refineries again. In that way our dependence on foreign oil will be greatly diminished. And that means we can disengage from the Syrias, Iraqs and the like. Let the damn Russians deal with them and concentrate on our national security and the security of the allies we still have by rebuilding our own sadly-neglected military preparedness, which includes our National Guard and military Reserves.you know, "Speak softly but carry a big stick."

Where Russia reigns they are trouble. As the troublesome North Korea is China's bastard child, so Iran is Russia's. And their meddling won't stop there. European NATO nations have to step up and pay their fair share to thwart Russia's historic appetite for expansion.

Muslims in America.

Look at the multiple centuries that we have been classified as infidels by Muslims. They have kidnapped, raped and murdered on behalf of their Koran. Seeing all the ongoing atrocities in our times leads me to only one conclusion about them.

I believe, because their belief system is male dominated, they are fearful of losing their control, i.e. power. If their believers cannot be controlled they must resort to terrorism to control them. In doing so they displace their fear onto others.

Muslim women and daughters are unable to express any individuality therefore they are controlled. All these are also controlled by mullahs who profess to be holy men but are evil.

I am not broadbrushing all Muslims. I see who I believe are some Muslims in America who have become very American. Their kids play sports, learn music and they attend these events in support of their children.  These Muslims I don't fear. It's the evil ones I fear.

Ohio Governor is Dead in the Water

Ohio Governor John Kasich has played the wrong cards.  His political career in Ohio is dead.

He mistakenly believed he was enormously popular because he won Ohio in the primary. However, we are a bit different from other states. In the primary, Ohio voters can vote for candidates in the opposite party.  As a result, Democrats cast anti-Trump votes by voting for Kasich.

The illusion was created that Buckeye voters loved the Governor. Acting on this belief , Kasich refused to attend the RNC Convention in Cleveland and has continued to perpetuate his mistakes, namely, failing to admit them.

He'll finish the two years remaining as Governor but heartland voters won't return him to office.

Political Insurgency

Writing in the Plain Dealer today (Sunday, 12/11/2016), Dick Meyer, Chief political correspondent for the Scripps Washington Bureau, opines the country needs a political insurgency to counter Trump.

Uh, where you been Meyer? The nation just underwent a political insurgency. "All sweet cookies in the store been bought." The only insurgency the Left could possibly be thinking is how to convert the heartland to embrace your "values." And therein lies your dilemma....you have none.

My Letter from the Russians

You know the street saying - toss it up to the ceiling to see what sticks.

This week's attempt is accusing Russia of  meddling in our presidential election. I guess they found the letter I received from the Russian Embassy - Vote for Trump or else.

They scared me shitless so I vote for him and avoided "or else," whatever it would've been.
Maybe an evening with Hilary?

"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..."

Our lame duck President visited MacDill AFB in Florida this week. Delusion thy name is Barack.

Barack Obama said: "We should take great pride in the progress we have made over the last eight years," declaring, "No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland."

Hmmm. Apparently the Ft. Hood killing spree; the Boston Marathon bombing; the execution of two NYPD officers;the murder of four military servicemen in Chattanooga, Tennessee; the San Bernardino murders; the Pulse Nightclub massacre and just last week, the Ohio State  jihadist don't count?? And these are just some of those planned and executed attacks on innocents by proponents of radical jihadism...ON American soil.

Can you understand Mr. President why we aren't going to miss you?

 His videod appearances and his comments are made specifically for low information Americans (democrat-controlled major cities) and the controlled press of foreign socialist nations.

These viewers only get news from these sources and come away believing the disinformation as gospel. Those in America assume the entire nation thinks this way...part of the reason why they lost the election and those of us in the Heartland won and took back control.