An Fear Gortach
New personal illustration piece based on the Irish folklore of 'the Hungry Grass', a cursed patch of grass, that caused an insatiable sense of hunger and weariness upon anyone who walked over it.
An Fear Gortach ~ The Hungry Grass
New personal illustration piece based on the Irish folklore of 'the Hungry Grass', a cursed patch of grass, that caused an insatiable sense of hunger and weariness upon anyone who walked over it.
Another version of the folklore features, Fear Gorta The Hungry Man or The Man of Famine, who takes the shape the shape of a starving, emaciated person. The Fear Gorta roams the Irish hillsides, begging people for alms.
Some accounts describe the Fear Gorta as the undead corpse of a person who passed away and was left on the ground without a proper burial. It is said that if grass were to sprout over the body, then it would turn into the Fear Gorta.
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Both versions of these tales are thought to have arisen from the events of the Great Famine in Ireland. The Irish Famine (or Great Hunger/Great Famine) was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852. During the Great Hunger, about 1 million people died and more than a million fled the country, causing the country's population to fall by 20–25%. Between 1845 and 1855, no fewer than 2.1 million people left Ireland, primarily on packet ships but also steamboats and barks one of the greatest mass exoduses from a single island in history.
From 1846, the impact of the blight was exacerbated by the British Whig government's economic policy of laissez-faire capitalism. They believed that it would be unethical for them to intervene and that helping the poor would only make them lazy and dependent. Longer-term causes include the system of absentee landlordism and single-crop dependence.
Countries around the world heard of the plight of the Irish and help was sent. From the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdülmecid I was only 23 years old in 1847 when he personally offered ₤10,000 in aid to Ireland. British diplomats advised him that it would be offensive for anyone to offer more than Queen Victoria, who had only donated ₤2,000. It was suggested that he should donate half of that amount, so he gave ₤1,000.
Even so, Sultan Abdülmecid I had found other ways to help. Today, the port town of Drogheda in Ireland includes a crescent and a star, both of which are symbols of Islam, in its coat of arms. Local tradition in the town has it that these symbols were adopted after the Ottoman Empire secretly sent five ships loaded with food to the town in May 1847. The reason for the secrecy is that the British administration had allegedly tried to block the ships from entering Drogheda’s harbor. Evidence that story these claims include newspaper articles from the period and a letter from Irish notables explicitly thanking the sultan for his help.
The Choctaw people, a Native American people from what is now Alabama and Mississippi collected $170 to send to people in Ireland. Recently the Irish repaid this kindness by donating €2.5 million to the Navajo Nation which spans part of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico in the US after the Navajo nation had been devastated by coronavirus.
Over a million people died in poverty, starvation and agony in Ireland during the Great Famine. These victims of famine were thrown into mass graves, usually fields. All were originally un-consecrated, although in later years many became memorialised and recognised consecrated ground. Over the top of these burial sites the grass grew and it was said to be cursed.
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I'm no writer so the above is a mishmash of various sources I'd read as research for the piece, including: Ann Massey/Dark Emerald Tales, Lorethrill, amayodruid, the sciencefaithand more.
Apologies if anything here is not accurate. And feel free to correct me if you have better knowledge of the events or folklore. I recommend doing your own research if any of this history or folklore interests you!
Reference Model: Valentina Blackpearl. Huge thanks to Valentina for self shooting some reference photography for me to use on this piece.
I may do a very limited run of larger size prints of this in the New Year if anyone is interested.
However you may be celebrating the coming days, or not, stay safe and take care of yourselves!
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