3-052-586 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Irish Relief Squadron, under the Duke of Edinburgh - distributing stores from H.M.S. Valorous at Kilkerran, 1880. 'The zeal shown by Admiral the Duke of Edinburgh in administering relief to the distressed population of the western isles and coast of Ireland has not been without effect on a warm-hearted people...To his Royal Highness has been left the task of superintending the proper distribution among the same suffering islanders of the bountiful cargo of potatoes, flour, meal, canned meats, and clothing, which was subscribed for by the proprietor and readers of the New York Herald, and which was conveyed to Ireland in the U.S. frigate Constellation...We are indebted to an officer of the Duke of Edinburgh's flag-yacht Lively for the sketch...The Artist writes that "the energetic and systematic work done by the men-of-war has been the means, one may conclude, of saving the lives of a large number of the Connemara islanders. Many hundreds crowded alongside to-day...The effect of the crowded boats and canoes on the calm water...with islands or mountains all round the horizon, combined with the very apparent good work done, bags of meal being boated away in all directions, gave food for the eye and heart of all right-minded people".' From "Illustrated London News", 1880.