A chara, – Michael Parsons’s article on the sale of the Killiney home of Brendan and Asta Kelly (Property supplement, June 21st) appears rather snide and dismissive of the horrors that afflicted many of those evicted during the Famine and in the latter half of the 19th century.
His contention that this is the most high-profile eviction since the Great Famine is, to say the least, disingenuous. Furthermore, his facetious comments regarding “weeping Mayo shawlies [that] were frequently turfed out of humble cabins” glosses over a significant and hurtful epoch in Irish history. What happened during the Famine and the 19th century blighted many families that did not have the ability to pay their rents and the consequences of being evicted were much more severe than those facing the Kellys. This appears to be lost upon Mr Parsons. – Is mise,