The UNKNOWN Sultan and the Irish Famine
In 1845, Abdülmecid I declared his intention to send £10,000 to Irish farmers during the Great Irish famine but Queen Victoria requested that the Sultan send only £1,000, because she herself had sent only £2,000. The Sultan sent the £1,000 sterling but also sent three ships full of food. According to Abdullah Aymaz in an article in The Fountain magazine, the British administration tried to block the ships, but the food arrived secretly at Drogheda harbour and was left there by Ottoman sailors.[9][10]. There are no records of this with the Drogheda Port nor the Irish National Library, due to the fire that occurred in the 20th century. However, newspaper articles from the period refer to three foreign ships sailing up the River Boyne in May 1847.[12] In addition, a letter found in Ottoman archives, written by Irish notables, explicitly thanks Sultan Abdülmecid I for his help.