The Night of the Big Wind
CARLOW
Sunday 6th
January 1839
County Carlow
The hurricane did
serious injury in Carlow. Though not, that we have learned,
to the same extent as in other places. The Catholic Cathedral had
one of the pinnacles of the steeple tower blown down it will
require some hundreds of pounds to repair the damage.
We heard of one man,
who, on Monday morning, sold ten shillings worth of slates, which
he had gathered in the streets, as blown from houses during the
night. The upper roofs of the most substantial edifices, and the
walls down to their foundations shook, as if from the effects of
an earthquake, and the great portion of the people of the town
remained up all night.
In the outer parts of
the town there was a greater number of cabins completely
unroofed, and rendered uninhabitable.
A great number of the
valuable trees on the demesne of Browne's Hill, on Mr. Faulkner's
demesne at Castletown, and in other places, were torn up by the
roots. Colonel Bruen's demesne wall was broken down in several
places. In short, so much damage was never heard of in Carlow.
Only the more terrific accounts from other parts of the country
afford the people reason to be thankful to Providence for their
milder lot. (L.I.)
Mr. Thomas C. Butler
had a very narrow escape, having only left his bedroom when the
ceiling was burst in by the weight of the chimneys. One of the
back windows of the Club house, sash and all, were forced in, and
shattered at atoms, and it required the united strength of the
men to keep the shutters closed while means of security were
being procured. (D.J.)
One of the ornamental
spires that crowded the beautiful octagonal tower of the Roman
Catholic Cathedral was blown off, and coming with great violence
against the roof of the building, smashed it in, and came down on
the front gallery, shattering it almost to a wreck.
The solitary chimney
that topped one of the great towers of the ancient castle of
Carlow, and which withstood the breeze for six hundred years, was
also blown away. There has been great destruction of property,
particularly on the Queen's county side, in the shape of corn in
stack, cattle, trees, roofs of thatched houses, and hay, which
have been scattered in all directions. (T.H.)
From THE
NIGHT OF THE BIG WIND by Peter Carr White Row Press ISBN I 8701
32 50 5
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