SNIPPET: "When the potato crop failed due to blight in 1846 it was obvious, in Ireland at any rate, that a major catastrophe was about to occur. The first failure in 1845 had been partial but it left the country debilitated with reserves run down, while individuals had few possessions left to sell or pawn. Members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were amongst those who understood the seriousness of the situation and many of them reacted by setting up relief operations in their own areas. In the autumn of 1846 soup kitchens were set up by Quakers in towns such as Waterford, Enniscorthy, Limerick, Clonmel and Youghal. Any thought of setting up a more comprehensive relief programme was hampered by two drawbacks. First, the number of Quakers in Ireland was small -- a mere 3,000 or so out of a population that exceeded eight million. Second, the Quaker population was concentrated in certain areas and was almost entirely absent from the west, including Donegal, Kerry, Clare, west Cork and the whole of Connaught. Quaker relief, therefore, could not be offered directly in the areas which would suffer most. The Society of Friends had certain advantages, though, if the right method of providing relief could be found. Quakers had a well-developed network of committees which operated on a nation-wide basis to organise their own society. Through these committees and through family ties Quakers throughout Ireland were in close contact with each other and with those in Britain. Many Irish Quakers were merchants and would have had the organisational capacity to purchase goods and move them efficiently to other parts of the country. Above all, Quakers believed that God was present in everyone and this gave an understanding that the individual in distress should be helped if all possible. It was with this in mind that a number of Quakers, led by Joseph BEWLEY, organised a meeting in November 1846. The outcome was the establishment of a 21-member 'central relief committee.' To facilitate frequent meetings membership was confined to the Dublin area, while a further group of 21 would be nominated as 'corresponding members' and from the Quaker community outside Dublin. Following discussions with their Irish counterparts Quakers in London also established a relief committee. Throughout the Famine these two committees worked closely together, with the Dublin committee looking after grants of food and clothing while the London committee raised funds. The division of labour was not strict, however, and many English Quakers came to Ireland to see for themselves just how bad the situation was and to become involved directly with the giving of relief. As the work of these committees progressed they set up various subcommittees to handle specific tasks and amongst these were local committees in Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Clonmel which looked after relief operations in the south and southwest. The first and most obvious means of assisting the hungry was through direct grants of food or the money with which food could be purchased. Some of this went to Quaker relief workers in the field but the scope for this kind of aid was limited by the size and distribution of the Quaker community. A great deal more was done through assistance to non-Quakers who were running local relief efforts and through Quaker workers identifying local people who were capable of operating soup kitchens and encouraging them to become involved. In essence, the relief committees of the Society of Friends acted as intermediaries who encouraged those who had something to offer to donate it and then made these donations available to local activists. In their own words the Quaker workers provided a 'suitable channel' through which aid was brought from the donors to the recipients. Before long the committees became involved in the distribution of clothing. In the winter of 1846-47 a large proportion of the clothing donations came from English committees, mostly consisting of women. Some clothes were made by the donors and others came from factories as a result of pressure from the women's committees. A warehouse was taken in Dublin to receive donations and sort them into bundles for passing onto the destitute. In the following winter American donations were predominant and this was mostly in the form of fabrics so that employment could be generated in making clothing." -- Excerpt, Rob GOODBODY, "History Ireland" magazine w/photos, pub. Dublin, Spring 1998 issue.