Wellington Bridge and Wildgoose Fire
Archived: 11 October 2026
In 1816, postwar recession and exceptionally cold, wet weather brought Ireland a serious subsistence crisis, with deficient potatoes and grain, costly food, wet fuel and conditions favouring fever. Westminster acknowledged distress and disorder but rejected major inquiry or reform. Maritime wrecks killed hundreds near Waterford and Kinsale. Dublin opened Richmond and Wellington, later Ha'penny, bridges, began Dunleary harbour, and founded an institution for deaf children. Belfast gained Ireland's first successful savings bank and St George's Church. Yet progress coexisted with exclusion, poverty and violence: Catholic disabilities persisted, while the burning of Wildgoose Lodge killed eight, exposing agrarian conflict and insecurity.
