workingclasshistory:

On this day, 28 September 1846, troops from the 1st Royal Dragoons opened fire on starving food rioters in Dungarvan, Ireland. A contemporary report described how “The distress” was “truly appalling in the streets; for, without entering the houses, the miserable spectacle of haggard looks, crouching attitudes, sunken eyes and colourless lips and cheeks, unmistakably bespeaks the sufferings of the people.” Meanwhile, an abundance of food was being exported for profit. On 28 September, several thousand people attempted to break into the quay-side grain stores. When the ringleaders were arrested, a section of the crowd demanded release of the prisoners and then marched to the centre of town, where they looted several bakeries. The British 1st Royal Dragoons were deployed to the scene and the riot act was read. When the crowd refused to disperse, Captain Sibthorp gave orders to fire. Two rioters were seriously wounded, and one of them, Michael Fleming, subsequently died of his injuries. In the coming days, four companies from the Lancashire Regiment were sent to enforce order in Dungarvan, but despite their presence, on 1 October dock workers refused to load grain for export as they feared reprisals. The Great Famine lasted until the 1850s. It killed around a million people and forced an even greater number to emigrate. https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1221297311388750/?type=3