Women of Courage: Humanitarian Voices During the Great Hunger
By Loretto Horrigan Leary
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On this International Women's Day 2026, we honor the thousands of Irish women who formed the majority of Irish migration during the devastating years of the Great Hunger, 1845–1852.
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While the names of all those courageous women who journeyed to distant lands may never be fully known, today we pay tribute to six remarkable women who confronted injustice, eased local suffering, recorded the history, and engaged in the politics of their time, making their mark as much as the Victorian era allowed them to do.
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Some were writers. Others were reformers, religious figures, or philanthropists. What united them was a determination to respond to human suffering when many in power failed to do so. Their work reminds us that humanitarian leadership often grows not from formal authority, but from conscience.
One of the most striking eyewitnesses to the Great Hunger was Asenath Nicholson, an American philanthropist who traveled across Ireland during the worst years of the crisis. Rather than observing from a distance, Nicholson chose to live among the people most affected. She walked the roads, visited cabins, and distributed food, clothing, and other supplies to families who had lost almost everything.
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Nicholson later recorded her experiences in Annals of the Famine in Ireland, a firsthand account that remains one of the most powerful descriptions of famine conditions. By speaking directly with the poor and documenting what she saw, Nicholson preserved voices that might otherwise have vanished from the historical record.
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The Great Hunger also sparked powerful literary responses. One of the strongest came from Lady Jane Wilde, mother of Oscar Wilde, who wrote under the pen name Speranza for the nationalist newspaper The Nation. Through both poetry and journalism, Wilde condemned the political indifference surrounding Ireland’s suffering and called for justice and dignity for the Irish people.
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Speranza’s writing helped shape the intellectual climate of the Young Ireland movement, which believed that literature and culture could inspire political change. Her work reminds us that the Great Hunger was not only a humanitarian catastrophe but also a turning point in debates about national identity and political responsibility.
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Another voice in The Nation was Mary Ann Kelly, who published poetry under the pen name Eva. Her poems captured the grief, anger, and spirit that marked Ireland during the Great Hunger. At a time when women rarely participated in political journalism, Kelly’s work demonstrated that women were beginning to claim space in public debate, especially during moments of national crisis.
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In later life she developed a controversial devotion to Young Irelander John Mitchel, a position that has been widely debated by historians. Yet her confidence and activism were unusual in an era when women were often constrained by the expectations and limitations of Victorian society.
​Religious and philanthropic networks also played an important role in famine relief. Margaret Anna Cusack, later known as the “Nun of Kenmare,” devoted much of her life to education, charity work, and advocacy for the rural poor. Through her religious mission and extensive writing, Cusack drew attention to the harsh conditions endured by Irish families and argued for reforms that would protect tenants and improve living standards.
Support for famine relief also came from outside Ireland. In Britain, social reformer Mary Carpenter mobilized charitable networks to raise funds and draw attention to the crisis. Carpenter later became well known for her work in education and juvenile reform, but during the Great Hunger she used her influence to generate humanitarian aid for Ireland. Her efforts demonstrated how the response to the famine extended beyond national borders.
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Another important figure connected with Ireland during this period was the novelist Maria Edgeworth. Edgeworth lived at Edgeworthstown in County Longford, where her family managed a large estate. When the Great Hunger struck, the Edgeworth family organized relief efforts for their tenants, distributing food and assistance to families struggling to survive.
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Although she was already elderly during the crisis, Edgeworth remained actively involved in helping her community. Her earlier novels had introduced readers across Europe to the complexities of Irish rural life, and her actions during the famine reflected a lifelong concern for the welfare of those around her.
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The women who responded to the Great Hunger came from many different backgrounds: an American traveler, Irish poets, a British reformer, a Catholic religious leader, and a celebrated novelist. Yet their efforts shared a common purpose. Each used her voice, influence, or resources to confront suffering and ensure that the struggles of ordinary people were neither ignored nor forgotten. Their stories also offer a timely lesson. Humanitarian crises are not confined to the past. Today millions of people around the world face hunger, displacement, war, and environmental disaster.
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Memories are more than hidden remnants of the past. They are powerful legacies that, when shared in artistic forms such as sculpture, painting and writing, inspire future generations to remain vigilant and compassionate. More than a century later, the words and actions of these six brave and kind women remain relevant. Their courage did not end the Great Hunger, but it ensured that the human reality of the crisis would not be forgotten. In doing so, they left a legacy that continues to inspire those who seek to confront humanitarian challenges in our own time. The six women remembered here remind us that meaningful change often begins with individuals willing to witness injustice, record it, extend compassion, and refuse to remain silent.