THE GREAT IRISH POTATO FAMINE
By: Evelyn Savaria
OVERVIEW
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Background Information
Religious Persecution
The Famine
Corn Laws
Poor Act of 1883
Workhouses
Irish Struggles
“Relief ”
Crime & Violence
Conclusion & the Effect of the Famine
BACKGROUND
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Between the years 1169 and 1541 England attempts to conquer Ireland
King Henry VIII of England declares himself King of Ireland.
Protestant King William of Orange defeats the Irish Catholics in 1690.
Act of Union of 1801
Ireland was given a small number of representatives in Britain’s parliament.
THE FAMINE
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The Great Potato Famine started around
1845.
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It is estimated that around 1.1 million died
and that 2 million emigrated.
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The Irish peasants were forced to heavily
depend on potatoes by England’s past
actions.
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
• 80% of Ireland’s population was Catholic
• Catholics didn’t have the same rights as Protestants.
• Penal Laws: Catholics were forbidden to vote, hold political office,
participate in certain trades/professions, carry or own firearms, or give
their children a “Catholic Education.”
• Catholic Emancipation in 1829
CORN LAWS
• England refused to repeal the
Corn Laws.
• The Corn Laws were to
protect the price of Britain’s
homegrown grain.
• Heavy tax on imported grain
strained relief efforts in
Ireland.
• These taxes guaranteed a profit
for farmers and merchants;
boosted economy.
POOR LAW ACT OF 1838 &
WORKHOUSES
• Ireland’s 32 counties were
subdivided into 130 Poor
Law Unions.
• More Workhouses established
and held 200-2,000 people.
• Families were separated.
• Man and boys subjected to
hard labor.
• People entered voluntarily,
but couldn’t leave the
grounds or quit without
permission.
IRISH STRUGGLES
• Soon after being conquered, English protestants were given Irish
land to encourage colonization.
• By 1714 only 7% of the land in Ireland was owned by Catholics.
• The Irish were forced into a serfdom-esque situation.
“RELIEF”
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Since the Irish were viewed as violent, barbaric and immoral people with
“dependence on government [the relief programs put in place by England
were] more concerned with fostering change than saving lives.” (Kelly 4).
• Board of Works, Act of Uniformity, and Test Acts also limited Catholic power
while “contributing relief ” to the Irish people.
• Laissez-faire excuse
CRIME &VIOLENCE
• Police could be found on “every part of the island, on every road, in every village, even on
the farm land, and on the seashore, and on the little islands which lie out in the sea”
(Sommerville 28).
• High crime rates & prejudiced judicial system.
CONCLUSION & EFFECT OF THE FAMINE
• By the time the famine struck, Ireland was already in a state of poverty.
• Southern Ireland finally gets Independence in 2008.
• Today the famine is used to incite independence rallies in Northern
Ireland.
Potato Famine memorial in Dublin, Ireland.
WORKS CITED
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Kelly, John. The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish
People. New York, NY: Picador, 2013.
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Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine,
1845-1850. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001.
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Sommerville, Alexander. Letters from Ireland during the Famine of 1847.Edited by
K.D.M Snell. Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 1994.
PICTURE SOURCES
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http://mang0tang0.edublogs.org/files/2010/05/famine1.gif
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http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608035311862220602&w=129&h=181&c=7&rs=1&pid=1.7
http://www.teara.govt.nz/files/a3985pc.jpg
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Clifden/Clifden1.jpg
http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.607986508157027206&pid=1.7
http://www.tcd.ie/history/assets/img/postgraduate/modern-irish/famine.jpg
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/potato-famine.jpg
http://images.rarenewspapers.com/ebayimgs/8.d10.2012/image001.jpg
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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IXMVvAXzUL4/UTCS4P8hChI/AAAAAAAAFSU/KA9oPX4E9GM/s1600/1-irish-potatofamine-1847-granger.jpg
http://www.mullocksauctions.co.uk/wmsimages/Hist-27May10/93.jpg
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