Big Blocks of Cheese in Ireland, 1914

big-block-of-cheeseIf any of you watched ‘The West Wing’ you will have learned that in his White House Andrew Jackson, the 7th U.S. President, had a ‘big block of cheese’ for any and all who were in need. In the fictional show, President Jed Bartlett continued that tradition by ensuring that there was a day set aside every so often for senior staffers to listen to interest groups who would not ordinarily be able to reach the ear of the president. And current U.S. president Barack Obama hosted his own ‘Big Block of Cheese Day’ this year, on January 29 last. According to the White House Blog, ‘On February 22, 1837, President Jackson hosted an open house featuring a 1,400-pound block of cheese that sat in the main foyer of the White House.’ The social media event which Obama hosted earlier this year was testament to the importance of historical and popular cultural references for politicians trying to reach out to a diverse and distracted citizenry. See more on President Obama’s Cheese Day here.

But what could this possibly have to do with Belfast, poverty and 1914 you might ask? Well, despite the fact that cheese has become a metaphor for public engagement for U.S. politicians, it is also a highly transportable, affordable and nutritious foodstuff. The extent of the cheese and butter trade in Ireland was a concern for the Commissioners charged with inquiring into the relief of the poor in the 1830s and its absence in many areas was noted. It was a regular part of workhouse diets throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries according to Peter Higginbotham’s website www.workhouses.org.

A document held in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland details the activities of the Londonderry Committee for the Relief of War Distress between 1914 and 1915. It noted in November 1914 that ‘the Government of Quebec had generously presented a number of cheese for distribution amongst persons in distress in the United Kingdom. That 2500 cheese of 80lbs. each had been assigned for distribution amongst distressed persons in Ireland and that 1300 would shortly arrive in Dublin.’[1] Local committees in areas where distress had arisen were instructed to apply for an allotment of cheeses ‘to be cut up and distributed amongst distressed’.

This charity from Canada, then part of the British Empire, is perhaps even more surprising given that Canada was not removed from the conflict as U.S.A. was in 1914. Canadian men and women (approximately 600,000 between 1914-18) were themselves joining the war effort. (See Library and Archives Canada for more details)

But the gifts of cheese continued. In 1916 the Local Government Board of Ireland’s annual report noted that,  ‘in the West, a period of scarcity prevailed during the months preceding the harvest, but any hardship that resulted was to a large extent met by a liberal distribution of the Canadian gift flour and cheeses. These gifts, distributed through us, were the greatest boon to the poor, who suffered from the enormous increase in the price of foodstuffs and whose usual credit with shopkeepers during the most trying months of the year was seriously restricted.’[2]

The distress created by the outbreak of war in Ireland, and throughout much of Europe, was dealt with by numerous organisations, including churches, local authorities, charities and private individuals. As well as assisting the local poor, they also tried to cater for Belgian refugees that were starting to leave there in their thousands. The local committee for the Ballykelly Dispensary District in County Londonderry (as it was referred to at the time) offered to house the refugees in Limavady Workhouse. A number of Belgians were eventually housed in Dunshaughlin Workhouse in Co. Meath.

After this little spurt of public engagement, via social media, this hungry historian is off in search of her own block of cheese, hopefully encased in lovely crusty fresh bread!

grilled cheese


[1] Minutes, Londonderry Relief of Distress Committee, 1914-15, LA5/16AA/5, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

[2] 1916 [Cd. 8365] Annual report of the Local Government Board for Ireland, for the year ended 31st March, 1916, being the forty-fourth report under ”the Local Government Board (Ireland) Act, 1872,” 35 & 36 Vic., c. 69., p. xiii.