Ballyhoura play recalls pre-Famine exodus of 500 families to Canada
Jack Healy and Eleanor O'Brien in The Robinson Experiment. Picture: Brian O'Keefe
A letter to the editor of a Canadian newspaper in 1825 bemoaned the Irish coming over, getting free land when “we should be looking after our own.”
Playwright John Sheehy, of Callback Theatre Company, cites this complaint saying the letter could have been written today, albeit in Ireland, complaining about immigrants. He has written a play, that brings to life a poignant chapter in Irish-Canadian history.
The play is the centre-piece of Ballyhoura’s bicentennial commemoration of the Peter Robinson settlers. Robinson, a Canadian politician and hunter, was hired by the British Empire (of which Canada was a subject) to lead a sponsored resettlement scheme. The initiative, which predated the Great Famine by two decades, saw over 500 families from North Cork, Southeast Limerick and the Ballyhoura region set sail from Cobh to begin new lives in Ontario. The families were given free passage. Two ships left Cobh in 1823 and, given the success of the programme, a further nine vessels made the Atlantic voyage in 1825.
Commissioned by Ballyhoura Development, the play is not a strict historical retelling. Rather, it explores the emotional journey of a fictional Munster family preparing to emigrate to Canada. It deals with the human experience, capturing the fears, hopes, humour and heartbreak of those leaving and those left behind. In all, about 2,500 Irish people made the big move to Canada as part of the scheme.
Produced by Callback Theatre’s Cora Fenton who also plays the Bean Feasa (wise woman) in the play, it will be staged at the Schoolyard Theatre in Charleville. While the venue is in the process of being renovated, it is being opened up for the play.
The Ireland-Canada Homecoming will see over 150 guests from Canada and the US visiting the Ballyhoura region with many of them expected to attend the play.
Sheehy and Fenton, from Kilmallock, are both a professional and romantic couple that used to be based in Cork before relocating to County Limerick ten years ago. The play stars Cork-based actors, Jack Healy and Cormac Costello as well as Eleanor O’Brien from Limerick and Ben Waddell from Dublin.
As Fenton explains, each family was given seventy acres of land to farm in Upper Canada. “That was the draw. They were also given tools and provisions for the first twelve months. They had a tough time and had to work hard. The land at that time in the wilds of Canada was pretty much uncultivated. The families left the mountains of Ballyhoura and went to the forests of Upper Canada. They had to fell the trees and build their own houses. It took a good six months to become established on their lots. When you think back, it was only twenty years before the Famine. Weren’t they the lucky ones to get out of Ireland?”
The play tells a very human story of a burgeoning family in Ballyhoura. “We see the Barry household who are expecting their first child. They’re trying to make ends meet as they are impoverished. They haven’t much to look forward to. Peter Robinson presents this amazing scheme. When the Barrys become aware of it, they wonder if they should go to Canada. It was never on their radar. The Barrys wondered about leaving their families and their land. What kind of life would their baby have in Canada compared to Ireland? There are bears and wolves in Canada. Can they trust that there will be seventy acres for them? Can they take the settlement scheme at face value?”
Sheehy says that what interested him was the family dynamic and the pressures it was under. “Today, people are looking at high rents in this country, living week to week.” The same old economic story plays itself out.
Meanwhile, a play was also commissioned in Canada to commemorate the settlement of the Irish there. “I’ve met my counterpart, a Canadian playwright called Megan Murphy. One of her ancestors was one of the original settlers. She has written a play from the Canadian point of view.”
While Sheehy’s play was commissioned by Ballyhoura Development, he says he was given great creative freedom and adds that the drama also works as a standalone piece. “You don’t need to know the history to enjoy it. It’s primarily a theatrical experience.”
Fenton’s character represents old Ireland while the character of mother-to-be, Beibh Barry represents the young Ireland. That dynamic has always been a source of tension, down through the ages.
- The Robinson Experiment premieres at the Schoolyard Theatre, Charleville, on September 15-21. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
- For full programme details, visit www.ballyhouradevelopment.com
