Limerick General Advertiser

9 May 1817

Dreadful Fire.

  On Wednesday last, a dreadful fire broke out in the house of a poor woman in the village of Pallis Kendry, inthis county, which raged with such fury, that notwithstanding every exertion which was made to check its progress, thirty one small houses, principally thatched, were consumed in the short space of a few hours—the dryness of the thatch which fired almost as quick as gun powder, the great want of water in the village, which is two miles from the Shannon, and a smart wind blowing at the time, in a great measure accounts for the extent of the clamity—two respectable slated houses suffered the same fate with the rest—one in the occupancy of Mrs. CHRISTIE the other in that of Mr. James RYAN, who was the chief sufferer, 18 of the small houses being his property.—It is truly mealancholy, as the inhabitants were principally of the poorer sort, who are unable to sustain the loss—almost every article of furniture was consumed by the devouring element, and they are now thrown on the world's wide waste, without a house to cover or a bed to rest them.—Generosity never had a wider field to distend itself that here, and the grateful reflection of alleviating the distress of those whom a sudden misfortune has cast on their benevolence, will amply repay them.—The fire, it is supposed, originated from a woman having incautiously placed a metal pot in or near some furze, after taking it off the fire.—How often we had occasion to reprobate carelessness in this particular, which is generally so destructive in its consequences.

© Nick Reddan 2007

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