The Causes And Effects Of The Irish Potato Famine

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 Irish Potatoes 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 Trench and Bennet had the purpose and intent of recording conditions exactly as they

In 1845, the Great Potato Famine, otherwise called the Great Irish Famine happened. Amid this time there was a high measure of potato/edit disappointment on account of the "late curse" which is a sickness that decimates the leaves, roots or tubers of the potato plant. This was the most exceedingly terrible starvation to happen in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. This illness obliterated the majority of the potato edits in Ireland until 1849. Additionally, in the 1840's Ireland was in destitution. The British had control over their nation and the general population were excessively poor, making it impossible to eat, pay lease or pay charges. In Ireland, Irish ranchers kept on sending out grain, meat and different nourishments to Great

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.

In Ireland about a half of the population were living on farms and since they were poor most of them were dependent on potatoes for food. When the crop soon failed after three years of success and it led to a massive famine throughout their nation, killing thousands of people. The Irish had to get out of their poor and suffering country and decided to

     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).

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

The Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when the lack of jobs and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the major European wars. When the Europeans could finally stop depending on the Irish for food during war, the investment in Irish agricultural products reduced and the boom was over. After an economic boom, there comes a bust and unemployment was the result. Two-thirds of the people of Ireland depended on potato harvests as a main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then between the years of 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acre after acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. The failure of the

Even with the advantage of knowing English, the famine-era Irish had much going against them in America. They had few marketable skills, little education, and no money. Substantial social disorganization, poverty, crime, disease, alcoholism, and family dissolution – accompanied their resettlement in America (241).

Potatoes, a large part of Irish diet at the time, developed a fungus that made the crop inedible. Unfortunately, the fungus traveled to other crops, which resulted in the food supply becoming depleted. No food in an area obviously makes it difficult to live and thrive in that area.1.5 million people died in this famine and approximately the same amount emigrated on boat towards America. (Ellis Island-Immigration Timeline) Upon arrival, the Irish were overwhelmed with employment opportunity, after passing through Ellis Island of course. For the Irish especially, America was a saving grace. Something as simple as food, which modern American society often takes for granted, was such redemption. For a better perspective on the issue, in 1864 the Republican Issue made it very clear that, “Foreign immigration which in the past has added so much to the wealth, resources, and increase of power to the nation…should be fostered and encouraged." (Ellis Island 1820-1880) The federal government was making these statements even before the vast groups made their way over. They knew that immigration could only benefit the nation’s success as a

In the early 19th century many Irish people immigrated to the United States. There were several reasons why Irish people came to live in America. During the American Industrial Revolution, many immigrants from all over, including Ireland, came to The New World to find new opportunities. There were also great religious opportunities from the largely Roman Catholic influence in Irish culture to the various Protestant religions here. All was well and good as Americans and immigrants worked together to expand the railroad and canals in the New England States, primarily New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York (Irish American Journey). In 1819, 43 percent of immigrants to America were Irish (Immigration). In Ireland at the time, most people were farmers and lived off potato crops for

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,

The Great Famine in Ireland lasted from 1845-52. Poor people relied on potatoes for food and income. However, blight destroyed the potatoes and people starved to death, got sick and many emigrated. The Irish saw America as an opportunity to procure education and success. They pushed their children to get an education and were satisfied with them leaving. The English language was essential for those who wanted to emigrate. Some of the factors pushing Irish out of Ireland are marriage, education, very little employment and living conditions. These immigrants yearned for a life which can change their life, especially when America had opportunities available. Some of the pull factors driving immigrants to America are living conditions, letters sent by friends/family/relatives, education, social capital theory, culture and a chance to get married.

In the early 1800’s, relations between Ireland and England were tense. The English were building their support by enforcing plantations, pieces of land that once belonged to indigenous Catholic Irish and putting the ownership to the incoming settlers from England and Scotland. Therefore, the impoverished Irish rented their land out from the wealthier owners who resided miles and miles away. In the 1800’s, the majority of Ireland was dependant on potatoes, as it was cheap and easy to grow for the enormous poor population that resided there. In 1845, toxic disease spread through all of Europe’s potatoes, greatly affecting the Irish, who were enormously dependent on the crop. Because the strong belief in the laissez-faire policy, which prevents

As people today enjoy “being Irish” on St. Patrick’s Day, back in the day the Irish were not well-received. Hundreds of years of oppression by Anglo-Saxons in Britain followed them to America and Irish were portrayed in cartoons as “ape-like Celts” while caricature images depicted the British race as “men of genius” (Mendible Lecture Notes). In her Afterword to Mary Doyle Curran’s novel, The Parish and the Hill, Anne Halley addresses former assumptions stating the Irish were distrusted first because of their religion and second because they may not be loyal to the American ideal: “They were Catholic – a religion thought to be based upon superstition and controlled by priests and a foreign power, the Papacy, that demanded absolute loyalty; potentially subversive of Protestant America […] they might never put America first” (Curran 226). Many Irish left after The Great Famine in 1846 immigrating as free citizens or indentured servants. Those arriving in Boston, New York or Philadelphia became the usurpers of free Blacks’ employment opportunities. Because they would work for lower pay, and they resembled “whites,” Irish families dislodged free blacks from their place in that society. In How the Irish Became

The Irish Potato Famine was a period of starvation, disease and emigration, and was known as one of the biggest tragedies from 1845 to 1847. Many people depended on potato crops to survive; however [comma] the potato crops acquired blight, a disease that caused the potatoes to rot while still in the ground. No good crops could be grown for two years [comma] causing Irish tenant farmers unable to pay rent and was forced off their land causing over 21,000 people to die of starvation. The Irish Potato Famine caused many people to leave Ireland to seek work overseas in areas such as England and America. The Irish Potato Famine had a big impact on the history and the economy of Ireland.