Ireland Starves and Lives to Tell: The Effects of the Great Potato Famine

The majority of the population consisted of peasants. The peasants, because they had nothing to lose, would marry very frequently, at young ages, and they would have many children. People were able to get married and have so many children because they were able to feed their families with the potato crop, which “could be grown anywhere, even on the most miniscule of plots, and contained just enough nutrients to sustain the life of the poor” (Diner 6). When the potato blight struck Ireland the population dropped by approximately 2 million people, both from deaths and people emigrating to America. People were devastated and realized they had to make changes in order to survive. There was no longer enough food to support a large family, therefore, marriage rates and birth rates dropped

In the early 1800s life in Ireland wasn’t easy, Irish citizens got by day to day by farming and relying on the potato. The potato was their main source of food and money. With out the potato the Irish would have nothing. No one was prepared for what was about to happen in 1845, the beginning of the Great Irish Potato Famine.

     Nineteenth-century Ireland was the most densely populated country in Europe: in 1800, its population was 4.5 million, and by 1841, it had risen to eight million (Kinealy 15). Yet much of this population existed in condition of sorrow and misery lay in the dependence of the peasantry on just one staple crop, the potato; in western countries like Mayo and Galway, nine-tenths of the people ate nothing else (MacManus 602). Here was a disaster waiting to happen, made worst by the rapid rise in population in the first half of the century which forced the peasants to subsist on smaller plots of land (O Grada, The Great Irish Famine 63).

K.H. Connell, in his paper “Land and Population in Ireland, 1780-1845”, describes and explains the significant population growth in Ireland prior to the famine of 1845 and how the uses of the Irish land changed with the population growth.

The Irish people would have freight, terror, death and eventually peace with these changes. The potato famine started with blight being discovered by European farmers. The Irish government started to export potatoes and grains to continental Europe to help the Europeans avoid a famine (Smith, 2011). By the end of August of 1845, Ireland was freighted to find out that blight had found its way to their produce (Smith, 2011). The blight in Ireland set off a chain of events that led to the Irish people dying in more ways to get out of Ireland. The government started trying to feed their people by importing corn and grains for food (Smith, 2011). This was not enough to help the young, old and sick. Many of theIrish people were led to complete financial ruin. By the end of 1851 more than a million Irish had died due to hunger and disease exacerbated by malnutrition(Smith, 2011).The only answer for many Irish families was to take a risk and get on a coffin boat and flee to another country. North America was a safe haven for many Irish people. They dreamed of the life they would live in the U.S.A. Nearly 1 million people arrived in many cities which include New York, and Boston (Smith, 2011). When the Irish people arrived, it was a sad reality they did not think they would face. The conditions were despicable. Many families were moved into small rooms with no sanitation, ventilation, day light or electricity (Smith, 2011). The families were charged about $1.50 per week to live in extreme poverty (Smith, 2011). This led to unsanitary conditions for the communities. Diseases were able to thrive in those conditions and one of the more common disease was cholera . The Irish people usually stayed in close proximity to each other and would make a small Irish community. The Irish community strived to make money. They were only hired for unskilled jobs

National problems have led one to flee his country and take part in illicit businesses to obtain a life of higher quality. The Constitutional Rights Foundation observes that between 1845 and 1855 more than 1.5 million adults and children left Ireland to settle in America because of poverty, starvation, and disease. Disease had demolished Ireland’s potato crops and the Potato Famine killed more than one million people in five years. The immigrants who reached America settled in Boston, New York, and other cities where they lived in tough conditions (Constitutional Rights

In the early 1800’s, Ireland was primarily rural. Most farmers worked on rented land from wealthy landlords. All of the corn and crops that they raise go to the landlords which are later exported to England. Potatoes are the main food of the impoverished Irish farmers who grew potatoes and other grains. The potato originated in South America but wasn’t brought to Ireland until later in the 16 century. Potatoes were so loved that they replaced barley and oats that poor people previously ate. This was really devastating because barley and oats were among the few things that poor people could afford. Poor people might have been able to get at least three potatoes every week. By the mid 1800’s, a fungus infected the potato crop. Plants became black

Maria Zorrilla Mrs. Long Humanities 4.9.15 The Irish Potato Famine The Irish potato famine was a period between 1845 to 1852 when 1,000,000 people died from starvation and 1,500,000 migrated.

In 1801 Ireland became subject to British rule after the passing of the Act of Union. While under British rule Ireland was faced with the British Corn laws of 1815, causing them to sell most of their corn crop to England (Stork). This went on before, and during, the famine, causing the Irish to gain a strong dependence on the potato. Consequently, the potato became a very popular source of food, especially for pregnant women.It helped them to gain nutrients throughout their pregnancy and carry their children to full term. This increased the population tremendously and decreased the infant mortality rate as well. Dwyer and Lindsay point out that “[t]he fungus phytophthora infestans arrived in Ireland in 1845 after already damaging crops in America, where it first appeared, England, and on the Continent”(188). In 1845 alone, the blight destroyed about one half of the potato crop in

One of the most known and talked about famines in history was the Irish Potato Famine, or otherwise known as the Great Famine. The worst famine that occurred in Europe during the 19th century. The Great famine is characterized as a time of mass starvation and disease. The effects of this famine were so great that it drove a significant amount of Ireland’s population out of their country. This included my own ancestors. They were forced to migrate to the United States due to a lack of food. The Great Famine has a direct effect to myself and my family. This assignment gave me an opportunity to take time and fully comprehend the cause and effects of an event that has a direct effect to my own family.

The potato famine started in the mid 1800s and lasted for several years, killing over a million irish people and causing 6 million to flee the country. Potatoes were vital to the irish diet, many irish people ate mostly potatoes since they were so poor. Many got infected by this epidemic. This report will talk about the irish potato famine.

The Irish Famine 1845-1849 “Is ar scáth a chiéle a maireann na daoine” “It is with each other’s protection that the people live” From the Fifteenth through to the Nineteenth centuries English Monarchies and Governments had consistently enacted laws which it seems were designed to oppress the Irish and suppress and destroy Irish Trade and manufacturing. In the Penal laws of 1695 which aimed to destroy Catholicism, Catholics were forbidden from practicing their religion, receiving education, entering a profession, or purchasing or leasing land; since Catholics formed eighty percent of the Irish population, this effectively deprived the Irish of any part in civil life in their own country.

The Irish famine of 1845 - 1852 killed 1.1 million people and over 1 million emigrated, in 1841 the population of Ireland was 8.2 million but in 1951 it had plummeted down to 6.5 million people. The famine caused mass starvation and disease within Ireland, it started when fog that contained Phytophthora infestans (Potato late blight fungus) began to settle onto potato plants turning them black and letting off a sickening odour. The potatoes under the ground looked edible but they too rotted away. One month after the potato blight began in Ireland wind had carried the potato blight spores all the way to London. When this happened the British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel quickly founded a Scientific research team to investigate the potato blight, the research team quickly identified it as ‘wet rot’. However the people of Ireland formed their own ideas to why this happened, Catholics thought it was a

Ireland 1845, food was suddenly scarce, money was hard to earn, and what little was earned was immediately spent for survival. The people of Ireland had grown up used to missing meals due to crop failure. However, previous crop failures couldn’t compare to the potato famine of 1845. For the next five years, the blight destroyed nearly all the potato crops and killed many Irish. About one million people died during this time in Ireland because of the starvation and disease. About two million fled the lands of Ireland in hopes of escaping the starvation, disease, death, and poverty that had taken over Ireland since the famine. The tenant farmers, who suffered would farm land that belonged to the absentee landlords. They would grow many crops, most of which were very successful. They were only allowed to keep the potato crops for their own; the rest of the crops would be harvested and exported to England. The absentee landlords lived like kings while the tenant farmers were forced to sell everything they owned so they could have money to purchase food to stay alive. When they ran out of things to sell they were then forced to scavenge for food scraps just to escape death for a while longer. The starvation and struggle of the Irish tenant farmers could have been avoided if the absentee landlords hadn’t been so greedy with collecting the rent. England could have come to the aid of the Irish people sooner than they did if they weren’t so interested in staying true to their

In 1845-47 one million people died as a result of the famine, yet the response of the Irish government to the famine was minimal. “The famine years witnessed the workhouses become overcrowded centres of disease and destitution – in March 1851, 250,611 people were paupers receiving poor relief in the workhouse” (Feriter,2004,p.52) .Voluntary groups such as the Quakers emerged nineteenth century and established soup kitchens.