The Great Famine
Causes of the Great Famine
Rise in population
Population in Ireland grew
More demand for food
When the population increased => people became poorer
Blight
Blight: fungus that attacks and rots potatoes
Timeline of blight in Ireland
1845: First blight recorded
1846: Blight everywhere
1847: Little blight and small potato crop
1848: Blight everywhere
1849: Less blight
1850: Some blight
1851: Mostly blight free
Subdivision of Land
Farmers divided land between their son
The sons divided the land they got from their father’s between their own son’s
Land size decreased
Process repeats
As the land got smaller families got poorer
Over-reliance on the Potato
Three meals of potatoes everyday
Daily diet of a poorer class adult male - 1840s:
Breakfast | Dinner | Supper |
---|---|---|
2kgs of potatoes and skimmed milk | 2kgs of potatoes and skimmed milk | 2kgs of potatoes and skimmed milk (nothing in a bad season |
What did the British government do?
Government relief
Time line
1845: Government bought Indian corn and set up public works
1846: Laissez-faire (sort itself out), public work scemes, workhouses
1847: Soup Kitchen Act, work houses
1848: Workhouses, public works, outdoor relief
1849: Workhouses, public works, outdoor relief
1850: Workhouses, public works, outdoor relief
Robert peel
Ordered the importation of £100,000 worth of Indian corn
€10.2 million in today’s money
Irish people couldn’t cook Indian corn
Set up public work schemes
Workhouses
Set up to help poor people
By 1848 there were around 200,000 people in work houses
They were only built for 100,000 people
Overcrowding => diseases spread quickly
Emigration
Leaving the country
People went to:
Britain
America
Canada
Bad conditions on boats
Coffin Ships
Consequences
Fall in population
The population fell by 2 million between 1845 and 1851
1 million died from hunger and disease
1 million emigrated
The population continued to decline after the famine due to emigration and low birthrate
Irish diaspora
The scattering of Irish people around the world
Subdivision ended
Instead the eldest son got the land
They only got the land when their father died so they married late which resulted in a low birthrate
Other sons and daughters were forced to emigrate
Decline in Irish Language
People in Irish speaking areas died resulting in the decline of the Irish language
Politics
Britain was blamed for the famine
Emigrants of Ireland took their hatred of the British to America
Americans supported the Fenians, the Land League, Home Rule, the rebels in the 1916 rising and the IRA
The Great Famine
Causes of the Great Famine
Rise in population
Population in Ireland grew
More demand for food
When the population increased => people became poorer
Blight
Blight: fungus that attacks and rots potatoes
Timeline of blight in Ireland
1845: First blight recorded
1846: Blight everywhere
1847: Little blight and small potato crop
1848: Blight everywhere
1849: Less blight
1850: Some blight
1851: Mostly blight free
Subdivision of Land
Farmers divided land between their son
The sons divided the land they got from their father’s between their own son’s
Land size decreased
Process repeats
As the land got smaller families got poorer
Over-reliance on the Potato
Three meals of potatoes everyday
Daily diet of a poorer class adult male - 1840s:
Breakfast | Dinner | Supper |
---|---|---|
2kgs of potatoes and skimmed milk | 2kgs of potatoes and skimmed milk | 2kgs of potatoes and skimmed milk (nothing in a bad season |
What did the British government do?
Government relief
Time line
1845: Government bought Indian corn and set up public works
1846: Laissez-faire (sort itself out), public work scemes, workhouses
1847: Soup Kitchen Act, work houses
1848: Workhouses, public works, outdoor relief
1849: Workhouses, public works, outdoor relief
1850: Workhouses, public works, outdoor relief
Robert peel
Ordered the importation of £100,000 worth of Indian corn
€10.2 million in today’s money
Irish people couldn’t cook Indian corn
Set up public work schemes
Workhouses
Set up to help poor people
By 1848 there were around 200,000 people in work houses
They were only built for 100,000 people
Overcrowding => diseases spread quickly
Emigration
Leaving the country
People went to:
Britain
America
Canada
Bad conditions on boats
Coffin Ships
Consequences
Fall in population
The population fell by 2 million between 1845 and 1851
1 million died from hunger and disease
1 million emigrated
The population continued to decline after the famine due to emigration and low birthrate
Irish diaspora
The scattering of Irish people around the world
Subdivision ended
Instead the eldest son got the land
They only got the land when their father died so they married late which resulted in a low birthrate
Other sons and daughters were forced to emigrate
Decline in Irish Language
People in Irish speaking areas died resulting in the decline of the Irish language
Politics
Britain was blamed for the famine
Emigrants of Ireland took their hatred of the British to America
Americans supported the Fenians, the Land League, Home Rule, the rebels in the 1916 rising and the IRA