Help to the Eire from Sultan.

I want to speak about the help that Ireland received during the Famine.

 I read many articles about that historical event and I remarked that the sources were often contradictory.

 I found an interesting story about Sultan Khalif Abdulmacid I Khan and his assistance to the salvation of Irish people during the Great Hunger.

Sultan was moved by that problem and to help Irish people he offered ten thousand pounds, but the British Ambassador in Istanbul informed him that the amount that he proposed had to be reduced.

The reason was  that the British Queen Victoria gave only two thousand pounds to the Ireland and it wouldn’t show her in the best light if the Ottoman Sultan contributed to  Ireland more money than Her Majesty.

Finally, the amount was reduced to one thousand pounds.

 The noblemen, gentlemen and inhabitants of Ireland sent a letter to express their thank and gratitude. They said : “The Ottoman Sultan’s munificent response to this aid call displays an example to European States”.

And it was not all that Sultan had done for the Irish people.

As he could not send more than one thousand, he decided to send three ships full of food from Istanbul to Ireland, where they secretly docked  in the city of Drogheda and delivered the food. Today we can see the star and the crescent moon on the jerseys of Drogheda United football club.

There is another interesting fact about the contribution to Hunger resolution. Two weeks ago  Mr. Mc Inerney told us about a donation  the Native Americans made for the Irish;

I want to add some words about Nation of Choctaw from Oklahoma. 13 years before that event when president of the USA was a son of Irish immigrant, Choctaws were forcibly relocated from their land to the other state. Despite of their own difficulties they had collected a considerable amount of 174$ and donated it to the Irish people.