History of Skibbereen

Famine, and the impact it and the British Government had on the people of Ireland. The song, known as Dear Old Skibbereen, takes the form of a conversation between a father and a son, in which the son asks his father why he fled the land he loved so well. The father relates to his son how the famine ruined his farm in Skibbereen, and killed his wife. As the man was unable to pay taxes,

...the landlord and the bailiff came to drive us all away.

They set the roof on fire with their cursed English flame,

And that's another reason why I left old Skibbereen.

In the final verse the son swears he will return to Skibbereen to take vengeance on the government that he holds accountable. A version can be found on the soundtrack to the PBS mini-series, "The Long Journey Home," performed by Sinéad O'Connor. In the film Michael Collins the Collins character, played by Liam Neeson, sings the song. There is also a version by The Dubliners.

Skibbereen has not forgotten the victims of the Great Famine. A permanent exhibition at the Skibbereen Heritage Centre commemorates that tragic period in Irish history. Skibbereen was the focal point of Ireland's first National Famine Memorial Day on 17 May 2009. The town was selected as it was in one of the areas worst affected by the Great Famine, with a mass grave at Abbeystrewery containing the remains of between 8,000 and 10,000 people.

The National Famine Commemoration Committee has agreed that the centerpiece of the new memorial day should rotate between the Four Provinces on an annual basis