Skibbereen

I made this production to highlight the elements of the song that tell a story during the years of the Irish Famine, which was an engineered famine, a genocide essentially. After starving native Irish and stealing their food and cattle away to British dinner tables, they then demanded extreme taxation and rental fees from British landlords who had taken that same land from the forefathers of those native Irish, left with nowhere to turn and no way to pay, the British would set fire/torch the common thatched roof of the day, which is essentially a roof made of straw, highly flammable. In doing so they would drive the people out of their home to either die from the cold, along with starvation or run for their life and escape overseas, as many did. The population of Ireland before the famine was 8 million and some suggest 12 million, after the famine: 4.4 million. Most went to America, Canada or Australia, where there are large ethnic Irish Diaspora to this day, some 35 million Irish Americans.

All photos used in this production are owned by their respective owners and all credit goes to them for their work. I did my best to give credit, I felt that the story was best told with images and might resonate more with people that otherwise do not interpret the story behind the lyrics.

I especially wanted to highlight the amazing paintings and illustrations from Jerry Mulvihill's Book: The Truth Behind The Irish Famine.
I found these illustrations through Jerry's Facebook page and they are so invaluable in how they capture the conditions of the famine times, in the absolute horror that comprised it.

Do not forget about what happened 1845-1852, an engineered famine, a genocide of the Irish People. We will never forget, no matter how you forge history, we will remember.

I am aware I spelt skibbereen wrong many times in the production now, which makes me feel an awful fool, but it is too late! I hope you can forgive that