ABSTRACT
Dr John Edgar, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, was one of those who regarded the Famine as an opportunity to intensify his involvement. Edgar was closely associated with two organizations that were formed in Belfast in the wake of the second potato failure, the Ladies' Relief Association for Connaught and the Belfast General Relief Fund. The Ladies' Relief Association for Connaught was the first ladies' association to be formed in Belfast. Upon his return to Belfast, Edgar convened a public meeting in the May Street Presbyterian Church, his lecture entitled, 'An Appeal for the People of Connaught'. Edgar published his lecture as, A Cry from Connaught: An appeal from a land which fainteth by reason of a famine of bread and of hearing the words of the Lord. Edgar was more forthright about his ultimate ambitions when he appealed to evangelicals in America, through their Synod, to support his proselytizing missions in Ireland.
