A Chronicle of the Disaster of 1839 Compiled from Contemporary Records
Produced by HENRY MCMULLAN
January 1839. The date of a phenomenon which was remembered all their lives by those who experienced it. A gale of unbelievable violence swept Ireland. Thatched roofs were lifted off in the tornado. Crops were devastated. People killed. A tall factory chimney crashed into a nearby building. Until about 20 years ago the Big Wind was used to establish people's ages; Ministry of Pensions officials would ask applicants for the old age pension if they could remember the ' Big Wind' and so test their eligibility. The events of that awful disaster, gathered from contemporary records, form the basis of tonight's historical reconstruction programme.