Irish Potato Famine Research Paper

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.

     Everything that happened in Ireland during nineteenth century has indeed been overshadowed by the catastrophe which overtook the country between 1845 and 1851. The Irish Potato Famine of 1845-1851 was one of the great catastrophes of the nineteenth century and divides modern Irish history. It was a disaster which poisoned Anglo-Irish relations for many generations to come, and had profound effects not only in Ireland itself, but in England and North America as well.

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

Since potatoes constituted the main dietary staple for most people this left them in dire conditions. As many as 1.5 million people died of starvation and the illnesses which ensued from the epidemics which accompanied the famine itself are believed to have lead to another 1 million. This brought upon the mass exodus from Ireland to the U.S. for survival; from the mid 1840’s to 1860 about 1.7 million Irish immigrants made it to the U.S. (overall numbers from 1820-1900 are at approximately 4 million total)(Rapple,

More than a million Irish people died during The Irish Potato famine that hit Ireland between 1845 to 1849 (Pollard, pg. 551). Potatoes were the primary diet of the Irish, especially the Irish Lump potato. When the fungal disease hit, known as “potato blight,” the Irish potato crops were lost. After reading primary sources regarding the Irish Potato Famine, the reader can visualize the horrors that the Irish people endured during the famine including starvation, the physical and the mental effects that go along with it, the loss of family members, and especially witnessing their children starve and die. Both W. Stewart Trench and William Bennett had the purpose and intent of recording

England ruled over Ireland and used Ireland as a source of food. England wanted Irish farmers to grow crops and ship them to England, so they didn’t have much to feed their families. Poor Irish farmers were forced to grow potatoes on the side to feed their families, since they were not desirable to the English. In 1845 the potato crop rotted all over ireland, destroying most people's main source of food. Irish starved to death and got diseases from the rotted

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

During this time it is clear that many changes were occurring in Ireland, a land that was once dominated by tradition was now becoming a modernized country. Where then does

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.

The tragedy left the Irish with nothing live on and as a result, over 1 million people died of starvation or diseases, while millions of others migrated to the United States. The famine proved to be fatal to Ireland, however British refusal to aid the Irish during the tough time helped shape Ireland’s view of Britain and proved detrimental to the two nations relations. The potato was a heaven-sent vegetable that thrived in Irelands climate, especially from 1780 to 1845 when the potato helped double Irish population and also left 1/3 of the Irish population dependent on the potato. When The Great Famine occurred the Irish citizens were left helpless and looked to British for aid, however the British were nowhere to be found. In the midst of the Famine, Britain had no remorse for Ireland when they implemented a capitalist economic policy. This policy was built for a stronger industrial nation, however when put into place in Ireland the policy restricted Ireland from stopping the Famine that was ruining its country. In the early 19th century the poor laws was an attempt to solve the widespread of poverty throughout Ireland. Although the poor laws aided the people of Ireland, during the Famine landlords who were responsible for providing food for their workers failed to do so leaving farmers with no home or food. The poor were left to live in workhouses that have been described as “the most feared and hated institution ever established in Ireland” These workhouses were intuitions in Ireland that designed for people that could not support themselves and were given food in return for work. The workhouses were harsh and cruel accompanied with many rules to follow; often compared to a prison. James Mohoney wrote an article with a horrific scene in the London News during the Famine and while going in and out of workhouses he claimed

Irish famine or better know the great famine swept across the lives of many families and workers. Ireland which was close to Great Britain had a great pack together called the union act. Representation they do have on a local basis and in parliament comes out of landowners. These landowner represent the connection Ireland has with

Stable foods such as oats and dairy were soon replaced by the potato. Potatoes were easy to grow and could feed more mouths for the labor input than wheat or dairy ever could, but that simplicity, combined with growing forces of international trade and corporate food production, led to a population boom and unhealthy reliance on a single, starchy crop. The potato soon became the single major crop of Ireland. By the early 1840s almost half the Irish population—but primarily the rural poor—had come to depend almost exclusively on the potato for their diet (Ball). Almost ninety percent of the population was dependent on it. It was very dangerous to become dependent on one single crop.

One quarter of Irish land was unused but unavailable for farming by the Irish. The Woollen, Poplin, Linen and Furniture and Glass industries disappeared. Fishing was reduced due to a lack of capital for boats and storage; “Free trade” caused sixty percent unemployment. In 1829 The Duke of Wellington wrote “There never was a country in which poverty existed to the extent it exists in Ireland.”