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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.

During this essay I will compare the difference of economic and policy development of Ireland, north or south in relation to the United Kingdom. As of today Ireland themselves are bit more advanced, exchange secondary economy. Ireland was among the starting gathering of 12 EU countries that started streaming the euro on 1 January 2002 “Although Ireland had aspirations to become a member of the Community as far back as 1961 it was not until 1972 when a referendum confirmed Ireland’s entry into the European Community with 83 per cent of voters supporting membership. Ireland formally acceded to the then EEC in 1973”. (Loughran, 2015).

The motivation behind a majority of Irish immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s was famine in Ireland. In total, more than two million Irish people left Ireland due to the dangerous conditions. This famine would continue to haunt Irish immigrants and change their ways for years to come. The attitudes and actions of the new immigrants changed not only because they were in a new country, but because they had to deal with the often times harsh treatment because of their immigrant status.

The Great Famine caused distress amount thousands of Irish that resolved in them immigrating to start a new life, numerous of them to America. This tragedy that hit Ireland lead to mass starvation, disease, and even death. The Great Famine primarily hit the farmers and those who weren’t as wealthy, they had the right to stay and fight for their life or find a new way of life. Anyhow, two million Irish arrived at Ellis Island from 1820 to 1860, it’s lead to believe that up to 75% of these immigrants were from the famine.

The Irish people left their homeland with a set purpose in mind. They left for something better. They left to see a better day without their crops failing to see the next day. Life was too miserable to bear for the Irish natives. This was due to a great famine that later that became known as the Great Hunger of 1847. Famines were very common during 19th century rural Ireland, but none like the one at this time. Potatoes were a staple crop, especially in Ireland, but were very vulnerable to disease. Parts of North America and France were faced with blight with the potatoes in 1844. This blight was an airborne fungus entitled Phytophthora Infestans. People had very high expectations for Ireland’s crop in 1845 despite this news heard recently around

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

In Ireland, the Great Irish Famine was a time period of mass starvation, disease and emigration that was historically dated from 1845 to 1851. This tragedy left a permanent impact in history to Ireland. I believe that the Irish should be appreciative that British North America is willing to assist them through this rough time period because of the poor circumstances back in their home country, they provided them a place to live a better life, and the people in British North America were accepting and allowing the Irish to continue to practice their culture.

Many of the people were left with no jobs during the famine. Their main job was farming potatoes and their main source of income was growing potatoes. Therefore, when the blight came, they had nothing else to turn to and were left with very little money. The fact that the landlords owned practically everything in Ireland made it difficult for the Irish people to invest in other ways to generate income. This left the Irish people no choice but to immigrate out to other countries in hope for jobs.

The majority of the Irish population, particularly the poor had come to huge reliance on potatoes as their main food source since farmers realised that it could be planted at a quick rate. Until September 1845, the potatoes had been prone to a disease known as the 'potato blight'. Once dug out, they were a black paste and were inedible. The potato famine lasted over six years creating hardships for the Irish individuals. Over a million had died from 'potato blight' and a million more emigrated overseas working out that the population had reduced between 20% - 25%. This image is a representation of a wood engraving in 1845 which portrays the Irish population starving to death and raiding a government food store for any source of nourishment available for them, further elaborating that during this challenging condition they had received no support for the famine whether through organisations, charities and even the government. The 'Great Famine' makes up one of the many natural disasters that provoked a great deal of population movement around the

Many of the Irish chose to become potato farmers, due to the fact that it could be grown on such cheap land. When the famine hit, thousands soon found themselves out of work. Many could not pay their rent, and were evicted. Some landlords tried their best to help their tenants and not charge them for rent, but soon they needed a source of income as well (Scally, 117). Between 1849 and 1854, approximately 250,000 people were evicted from their homes. Whole families were left out on the street to die (Kinealy, 125). Now, homeless and starving, many soon emigrated.

The congestion led to the activation of the Irish Poor laws in 1838 by Great Britain’s Queen Victoria. These laws were enforced in an attempt to promote emigration to areas like the United States and Australia. All the outcomes of the Famine were not necessarily negative. One such incentive was modernization. According to Garvin, “Ireland has been a modernizing society since the Famine, and the tragedy of the Famine was itself the occasion of a great modernizing change” (469). The demand for an institution of education was in order.

When the Potato Famine struck Ireland, in 1845 about one million of the Irish immigrated to the United States. Most were severely poor, and were suffering from sickness from diseases, and starvation. These famine immigrants were one of the first giant floods of foreigners to come to the United States and it was very stressful for Americans. “

Landlords were trying to find the problem to the deaths. Landlords knew exactly what to do. They evicted hundreds and thousands of peasants, because the work was not getting done (Considine 76). Unemployment was the view of the workers due to soldiers coming home from the Napoleonic Wars and more people were dying from disease. As the farmlands of Ireland were being cleaned out, over the period of time, emigration increased at an excessive rate. Many Irish residents left for America and other English-speaking countries. During the famine, nearly one million people sought a new and richer life in the United States. Ship owners crowded hundreds of Irish onto boats, later labeled "coffin ships" (Ruddy 43). These ships reached port only after losing a third of their passengers to disease, hunger and other causes. While Britain provided much relief for Ireland's starving population, many Irish criticized Britain's delayed response and further blamed centuries of British political oppression to underline the causes of the famine. As depression continued in Ireland, two million more people left to seek this new life. But even leaving wasn’t the cure. The Irish were already stressed out due to the economy caused by its Poor Law System.

This paper will begin by examining the two important factors, exports and imports, for the reason that they are central to understanding the effects from joining the EU. Ireland has an economy that is inherently centered on the difference between imports and exports, in other words; its terms of trade. The more units of exports that can be used to purchase a unit of imports, the more economic stability the nation displays. Ireland’s EU membership and its adoption of the euro initially facilitated a high level of imports from other nations within the Eurozone, because the single currency and open market access led EU nations to trade freely with one another. Ireland’s low corporate tax rate and its high tax revenues from corporate profits