The bakers
began to bake household bread, which for some time they had ceased to
do, and prices fell.[25]
Throughout the country there were numerous gangs of robbers, most of
them undoubtedly having sprung into existence through sheer starvation;
some, probably taking advantage of the Famine, pursued with more profit
and boldness a course of life to which they had been previously
addicted. The most noted of these was "the Kellymount gang." Their
head-quarters seem to have been Coolcullen Wood, about seven miles from
Kilkenny, but they extended their operations into the King and Queen's
Counties, and even to Galway. They were so formidable that a strong
military force had to be sent against them. This gang committed no
murders, disdained to take anything but money, horses, and sheep;
sometimes divided their plunder with the starving people; and had in the
outset pledged their honour not to rob any of the gentlemen of the
County Kilkenny. They were dispersed, after giving much trouble to the
military; many were taken prisoners, tried by a Special Commission, and
of course hanged; for, while the Government did nothing to alleviate the
horrors of the Famine, it put the law in force with a bloody severity.
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