The Great Famine Of Irish Nationalism

     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).

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

The Great Irish Potato Famine was during a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration through 1845-1850. According to the journal, “The Context of Migration: The Example of Ireland in the Nineteenth Century” by James H. Johnson, this caused the population of Ireland to decrease 20-25% and it did not stabilize again until the 1930’s. Although there was a potato crop failure in Europe in the 1840’s, one third of the Irish population was dependent on this crop. This was inevitable due to the sole dependency of the Irish people on home-grown potatoes and the population almost doubling from 1800 - 1840. The journal, “Spaces for Famine: A Comparative Analysis in Ireland and the Highlands in the 1840’s” by Liz Young states that “if the

Violence, terror, suffering and death. The conflict that has been burning in Northern Ireland seems to be an unstoppable battle and it has flooded over the land of Northern Ireland. The struggle for power and the persistence of greed have fueled the raging fires of the opposing groups. The conflict in Northern Ireland has been discussed continually over the past few decades. Ever since the beginning of the “Troubles,” organizations have been scavenging to find a plan that will cease the violence. Throughout my research for this project, the questions of what are the main sources of conflict in Northern Ireland and why have they continued today guided me to many fascinating pieces of evidence that

In the 12th century, Queen Elizabeth of England first started to consider Ireland as part of the British Empire after a large scale exploration and immigration of Irish people to England. Queen Elizabeth was on a quest to spread Christianity and become the most powerful empire in Europe, which cause, problems in Ireland. These problems would lead to war between the British and the IRA and would cause war to come to Ireland and a desire to be free again. Although war would not come until after a deadly famine struck Ireland and the surrounding island nearby in 1845, due to people leaving and converting to Catholic faith. The average Irish family lived on potatoes which became infected by potato blight. With the death toll racking up in the millions

Seeing as how the Irish Potato Famine is perhaps the most well-known to American students, I conducted some basic research in order to find another example. Surprisingly, I found that there are some theories that suggest that famine could have played a role in the downfall of the Mayan civilization. According to an article written by Christopher Minster titled, "What Happened to the Ancient Maya?” the once striving civilization fell apart around 900 A.D. and there are several factors that could have played a part: disaster, war, civil strife, environmental change, and famine (Minster). For the sake of discussing famines, I will focus on the latter. Traditionally, the Mayans practiced the slash-and-burn form of agriculture, growing food such

Labeled a problem due to their religious alignment, England’s government continued to oppress and ignore Irish citizens. To make life in Ireland worse, the overpopulation led the Irish government to disregard reports of crop failings and use the famine as a means to fix the population problem. The Great Famine, which began in 1845 and continued through 1849, created a total upset of social, economic, and political life in Ireland, which worsened situations for the poor, caused uprisings and mass emigration, an increase in religious belief, and benefited those in positions of

If many people had not emigrated to other countries, they would have starved to death in Ireland. Before the Great Famine, Ireland had a grand population of nearly eight million people. Unfortunately, about a million and a half of those people fled Ireland due to the famine. About 18% of Ireland's population ended up emigrating to different countries. A few examples include, Australia, Canada, Britain, and the United States. About 2.5% emigrated to Australia, 11.5% emigrated to Canada, 36% emigrated to Britain, and 50% emigrated to the United States. It only continued to grow worse back in Ireland for the peasants. Many of them had lost their land and fell into large amounts of debt. With the small amounts of food remaining, wealthy landowners would make large profits off of selling food for outrageous

British oppression in Ireland was a significant factor in causing the Easter Rebellion of 1916, as it was the driving force for Irish independence. Anti-British sentiment was inflamed by the early history of oppression and in turn enhanced the devastating consequences of the famine. However, British oppression was insufficient, as the sole cause of the Easter Rebellion, the Gaelic revival reinvigorated patriotism and the formation of nationalist groups must be considered.

The Irish will never forgive or forget what the British policies did to their forefathers. Of the Irish who did successfully immigrated to the United States they quickly joined an associations that favored Ireland's independence. The famine is what fueled the Irish emigrant anger and most of them viewed it to be the reason for leaving Ireland in the first place. John Mitchel, journalist for the Nation, expressed the emigrants' angry sentiments when he wrote:

he failure of British government programs to benefit the poor in Ireland, in confluence with strategically placed policies to denigrate the Irish, when coupled with the potato blight all lead to a ruinous famine that took the lives of one million people (Fitzgerald). Those who say the potato blight was the chief factor in the Great Famine in Ireland fail to recognize the fact that many other western civilizations, including the United States, also had this particular strand of potato blight, and yet were not devastated by this crop failure (Gallagher). It was the political action of the British driven by their struggle for power that was the prime factor in the Great Famine of Ireland. England wanted to weaken Ireland just enough to keep

During the 1890s, two strategies developed in an effort to restore the Celtic heritage in Ireland, the Irish Literary Movement and the Neo- Gaelic revival. It is for this reason that an Irish Literary Renaissance began spreading through Ireland. This renaissance was influenced by an increase in the national interest for Gaelic legends and myths. The revival of the old Gaelic heritage served as inspiration to the growing political nationalism. At the close of the 19th century, Nationalist movements were spreading throughout most of Europe. In Ireland, the nationalist movement was calling for separation from British oppression. Ireland had been under English rule for over 300 years and saw itself ready for home-rule. Irish politics began to pressure its artists into displaying a civilized and respectable national image. However, the Irish people could not agree on an exact image.

The Potato Famine of Ireland began in September 1845 and lasted until 1849; it was created due to the people of Ireland being dependent on potatoes as their main source of food. Due to the high cost of grain with the Corn Law of 1815, growing potatoes was their only way to prevent starvation. Although, their high dependence on potatoes lead to their downfall in 1845. From 1845 to 1847 a fungus attacked the potato crop from one village to the next. With it being the only crop grown for miles, in some areas, it inevitably led to the death of one million people due to starvation and disease. Along with another 1.5 million who migrated to the United States, which created the great migration of the 1800s. These two huge changes in demographics in Ireland was also due to the British government being extremely slow in providing aid to the Irish. It showed how hard the depression of 1842 hit Great Britain and how the Corn Law was making it hundreds of times worse. Relief finally came when parliament finally removed the Corn Law in 1846, although the damage was already done. The Potato Famine enhanced Irish desire for Home Rule and independence from Great Britain.

Ireland was struck by a famine in 1845. It was known as the Irish Potato Famine. Some people also call it “The Great Famine”. This disaster became one of the most terrifying historical events in Ireland’s history but the Potato Famine affected not only Ireland but also the whole Britain. This paper aims to shed light on a historical background of the Irish Potato Famine and its effects on Victorian Britain.

In the history of Ireland, religion is one the most important factors in what has shaped the country. A predominately catholic country, Ireland has had religion as a staple in how their political parties, social movements, education and overall life are governed. The church dictated what was considered acceptable and were not afraid of shaming members of communities into doing what the church wanted. It also controlled the societal roles for men, women and children. All of the categories that the church played a role in had lasting effects and are what shaped what we now see as the Republic of Ireland. The areas that I think were effected the most and are the most important are gender equality and roles as well as education. With how close the church is and was intertwined with these topics is a huge portion of the country’s history, one that may not be as well told due to the control the church has over so many aspects of life. The goal of this research is to thoroughly explore the history and provide analysis on how this has affected modern Ireland in the fields of gender and education