The Great Famine in Ireland is known by several names, The Great Famine, An Gorta Mor, The Great Hunger and The Potato Famine. Over 1 million people lost their lives through this tragic period in Irish History.
It was a devastating event that has come to symbolize one of the darkest periods in the history of Ireland and is the single greatest tragedy in Irish history.
This was an event that would forever change the course of Irish history. It would single-handedly become a symbol of Rebellion with its eternal association with the severe oppression of Irish people.
This single event in our long history would see a population decimated and Irish immigration reach its peak, with Irish citizens fleeing for their lives throughout the world.
Due to this single devastating event, Ireland population would fall by a dramatic 25%.
The cause of the Irish Famine was potato blight. The potato crops across the entire continent of Europe were destroyed by blight, but no single county was as severely affected as Ireland.
The reasons for this are simple; the potato was the main food source for the vast majority of the poorer peoples of Ireland. They were dependent on the crop to survive.
The people of Ireland who were most dependent on this food source were those of native Irish ethnic origins.
Other factors such as the harsh Corn Laws, land acquisition and absentee landlords all contributed to this devastating period of Irish history.
The 1801 Act of Union made Ireland part of the United Kingdom. The executive powers within Ireland were given to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Chief Secretary of Ireland.
In 1845 land holdings for the majority of Irish tenant farmers were so small that they could only grow potatoes to feed their families.
Rent was high, and poverty in Ireland was so rampant that many people could not afford to feed their families.
At the time of The Great Famine, approximately 80% of the land in Ireland was in the hands of the British Gentry; most were granted their lands and titles during the 17th Century.
Many of these Land Lord’s were absentee, and the majority of their land was leased to wealthy farmers, who subsequently divided up these lands and subleased to poorer, tenant farmers resulting in the large-scale subdivision of lands.
Small farmers ended up with an average of 2 acres, consisting mainly of poor quality land.
This smallholding was barely enough to feed families and earn a living.
Potatoes were easily grown on these small plots of land and therefore became the main food source.
Potato blight saw the main source of food for a huge demographic disappear, combined with the Corn Law and resulting in grain prices soaring to a such a high price people could not afford to buy it.
The poorer people within Irish society were almost completely dependent on the potato crop; it was the main source of food for approximately 3 million people.
When the potato blight struck, it had devastating effects throughout the entire country.
The result was that the majority of wealthy landholding farmers in Ireland exported their grain and animals for sale throughout the British Empire.
The grain in Ireland was exported because the starving Irish poor, could not afford to buy it, it was a vicious circle. Public works were introduced paying workers barely enough to survive.
Men, women and children were subjected to back-breaking work in order to earn barely enough to curtail the onset of starvation.
Men such as Daniel O’Connell appealed for a repeal of the Act of Union, as it was Ireland’s only hope of saving her people.
This is the era that we see The Young Irelander’s and The Irish Confederation start to a campaign for a repeal of the Act of Union and revolutionary movements start to take shape.
By the end of 1846, the public works scheme employed approximately half a million Irish, and there was not enough work.
The brutal Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan who was the British civil servant in charge of administering government relief in Ireland limited the food aid programme to the Irish people.
He believed and stated that his opinion was “the judgment of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson”. Trevelyan is remembered, not favourably in several Irish folk songs. Most notably ” The Fields of Athenry”.
In 1847 the British government totally abandoned the public works scheme and the roads that were built leading to nowhere stopped.
This was the darkest year of the Famine. Mass graves appeared on the landscape, bodies dumped in without a thought and covered in lime to try to stop the spread of disease and the stench of death that was sweeping over the country.
This is when the poor of Ireland perished from starvation, disease and were ravaged by the bitter cold. Workhouses and soup kitchens were established and this horrific year became known as “Black 47”.
This is the year when vile institutions known as Workhouses were established. Usually set up in an H style, these buildings were places of death, disease and torment.
Families were divided, and mothers have torn away from their children. Families would have only seen each other at mass on a Sunday.
The names of the who had perished during the week were read allowed at mass, this was when mothers would have found out their children had died, buried in mass graves with no names.
The workhouses were said to be worse than hell itself.
The Famine saw families divided, children were torn from their mothers, barely enough food to survive and surrounded by death and disease.
It was said that the people were so ravaged by hunger that they were skeletal barely able to walk with the starvation and anguish that engulfed Ireland.
In fact, the situation in Ireland was so awful, many people opted to commit crimes of survival so as they would be sent to prison.
The prison was a place they were guaranteed to be fed, prison conditions at this time were absolutely unimaginable, with vast overcrowding but for some, this was their only hope of survival.
Food and grain were being exported even during the absolutely darkest times of the famine.
To add some perspective in “Black 47” 4,000 vessels carried food away from Ireland to England and parts of the British Empire while 400,000 Irish men, women and children perished.
The worst affected areas of Ireland were the Gaelic speaking areas, especially those on the west coast, where whole towns and villages were abandoned, entire families wiped from existence.
It is important to say that during the famine the United States sent relief foods to Ireland carried by over 100 vessels. This relief mainly came from South Carolina and Philadelphia.
Relief was also sent from other countries around the world when the extent of the suffering of the Irish people became apparent, even President Polk and Abraham Lincoln made a contribution to the relief effort.
Eventually, the British Government relented and started to send aid but it was too late.
To put some perspective on the harrowing and vile situation that occurred at this time, one soup kitchen in Killarney had to cater for 10,000 people.
Starving men, women and children that were so thin that death had its hand on them, it was just a matter of time until they starved to death, many huddled in huts to weak to move and landlords were still in the process of evicting the dying.
Men, women and children were lining up with small earthen bowls hoping against all hope that the massive famine bowls would not be completely empty.
Ireland was in the deepest grips of death and the brutal treatment of the native Irish would never be forgotten, the images of our people ravaged by hunger, disease and pain forever engraved in our souls.
Ireland was ravaged by hunger, diseases such as black fever, yellow fever and typhoid.
Harsh winters, lack of suitable clothing and warmth, all combined resulted in what was a death sentence for the poor of Ireland. They had a few choices.
They either had to enter the workhouses, emigrate or die. The result of The Famine was over a million people dead and approximately the same amount emigrated. Ireland lost 25% of its population.
The Famine saw the Irish emigrate throughout the world on what became known as famine ships or coffin ships.
The worst years of the famine were from 1845-1849, however the effects of the Famine lasted for years.
The social and psychological impact of The Great Famine has lasted through generations.
It was a period of starvation, death, disease and mass emigration. Ireland’s population at the time of famine was approximately 9 million.
At the close of the famine over 1 million people were dead through disease and vile starvation and the approximate the same number had emigrated, escaping for their lives to new lands in the United States and throughout the world.
The Famine left horrendous scars and was one of the major reasons for revolutions; it left a bitter mark in Ireland and in the hearts of the Irish throughout the world.
It resulted in the establishment of political groups and rebellions such as that of 1848 and 1916.
The Irish throughout the world spread their story that will never be forgotten, preserved in literature, songs, poetry, movies and thought harrowing artworks an event of this magnitude forever changed the shape of Ireland.
We as a people will never forget those events that forever shaped our future.
It might sound farfetched but I personally remember my grandfather who was born in 1909 telling us the stories of the famine told to him by his grandmother.
It gives me a personal realization that these events were not that long ago, a common saying or boast of those generations as they are “great eaters”, perhaps holding on to a beautiful thought that the food was available to us without worry.
Our family members that emigrated on ships like the Dunbrody and who still love to visit their Irish family and treasure their Irish culture preserving it for future generation.
For me the sight of a ruined village abandoned during the Great Famine in Dingle, County Kerry was a fearful sight.
The huge cauldrons known as famine bowls at Westport house in County Mayo that was used to feed the starving.
The countless ruins of workhouses and the restored Gaols all bring it home to me the human suffering that occurred during this time, a painful but necessary reminder of the darkest era in Irelands history