An Gorta Mór: Irish Potato
Famine
The Great Hunger 1840’s – 1850’s
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Some Political Background of Britain
Parliament: Had been a developing institution in England since the
12th Century. After the English Civil War in the 17th Century, it was
the Legislative & Executive basis of a constitutional monarchy.
House of Commons (Lower House): In 1800 there were 465
Members of Parliament (MPs) from England, 48 from Wales, 45
from Scotland and 100 from Ireland. Responsible for all financial
bills.
House of Lords (Upper House): Made up of the Lords Spiritual
(two Archbishops, 24 Diocesan Bishops) and the Lords Temporal
which were divided into three groups: hereditary peers, granted
peers granted peerages, and the Law Lords, who were recruited
from the ranks of Britain's High Court Judges. House of Review
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English Political Parties at the Time
Whigs—first formed in 17th Century & by 19th Century favoured reform
Liberals—Uncomfortable with aristocratic origins of Whigs, many
Whigs started to refer to themselves as Liberals, a term that became
official after 1868.
Tories—tended to favour traditional political structures and opposed
parliamentary reform
Conservative—What Tories started to call themselves after 1824-1834
Chartists-The London Workingman’s Association drew up a charter of
radical political demands in 1836 and became known as the Chartists.
Labour Based Parties—Started to become a major force after 1867
Reform Act. Included Fabian Society, Independent Labour Party, Social
Democratic Federation, who together became the Labour Party in 1906.
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Introduction
• The famine killed 1 million people and forced
another 1 million to leave Ireland.
• Most of the land in Ireland was owned by British
landlords who rented it to Irish farmers for large
amounts of money.
• One-fourth of the population could read and write.
• Most farms were 10 acres in size.
• What does this say about society?
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Introduction (cont.)
• 1 acre of land could yield 12 tons of potatoes (feeds
a family of 6 for one year).
• Most Irish farmers lived entirely on the potato.
• The potato was highly nutritious and actually kept
the Irish peasants healthier than the peasants in
England who ate only bread.
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Ireland Before the Famine
• 1695: Penal laws put in place to punish the Catholics for
supporting the Irish King James II (Catholic) over William of
Orange (Protestant)
• 1798: Ireland tried to rebel against English rule, but the rebellion
was crushed.
• Catholics could not vote, hold office, buy land, attend school,
possess weapons, or practice their religion.
• Gaelic language was banned.
• 80% of Ireland was Catholic.
• In 1600, Protestants owned 10% of the land.
• By 1778, Protestants owned 95% of the land because of the Penal
Laws. (Penal laws reverse with Catholic Emancipation)
• Irish population had reached 8 million.
• 1838: Poor Law – created Workhouses.
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Before the Famine (cont.)
• Workhouses split up the families and put everyone
in the family on hard labor, prison-like conditions.
• 2.4 million Irish (1/4 of the population) were living
in complete poverty.
• Irish begin leaving for North America, where they
will assist in massive hard-labor construction
projects (hand digging the Erie Canal!) for $1 per
day.
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• The French sociologist, Gustave de Beaumont,
visited Ireland in 1835 and wrote: "I have seen the
Indian in his forests, and the Negro in his chains,
and thought, as I contemplated their pitiable
condition, that I saw the very extreme of human
wretchedness; but I did not then know the condition
of unfortunate Ireland...In all countries, more or less,
paupers may be discovered; but an entire nation of
paupers is what was never seen until it was shown in
Ireland."
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Potatoes
• With the population in Ireland growing at such a fast rate
from 1800 – 1841, people needed to depend more and more
on the potato. (The population had increased by 3 million
in just 40 years!) Imported from America – it was easy to
grow and provided all the nutrients needed for life in
Ireland. John Keating wrote that “ Labourers, cottiers,
smallholders and their families depended almost exclusively
on the potato as a source of food. Individuals consumed
large amounts by today’s standards (around 6.4 kg per
day!)
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Huge Divide
The famine and its aftermath showed the huge gulf that lay
between Ireland, largely inhabited by a poverty-stricken
population living constantly on the edge, with no rights of
land ownership, and the UK of which it was supposed to
be a part. Britain had a rapidly changing society, with its
growing industrial might and its developing cities.
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Britain imported wheat.
Corn Laws
First Corn Law instituted in 1804, at behest of wealthy
landowners who dominated Parliament. Required a duty to be
paid on imported wheat (or more generally “corn” or cereal)
products.
Napoleon’s Continental System drastically cut imported wheat,
leading to increased food prices and increased land brought
under farming.
After the War in 1815, farmers feared that prices would greatly
fall This fear was justified and the price of corn reached fell
from 126s. 6d. a quarter in 1812 to 65s. 7d. three years later.
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Corn Laws Continued…
Following pressure from landowners, Parliament
passed a law that allowed the import of foreign wheat
free of taxes or duty only when the domestic price
reached 80 shillings per quarter (8 bushels).
The corn laws were hated by average workers who
saw it as the reason why they paid so much for bread.
Bad harvests and higher prices led to industrial unrest
including strikes and food riots, as workers
demanded higher pay.
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Anti - Corn Law League
• Goal was to repeal corn laws
– lower food prices
– increase jobs
• Led by Cobden and Bright
• Prime Minster Robert Peel lends
his support
• 1845 Famine breaks out in
Ireland
• 1846 Parliament repeals the
Corn Laws
Richard Cobden
Robert Peel
John Bright
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Economic Liberalism
• The case against government interference
enhanced by Thomas Malthus
– Wrote, “Essay on the Principles of Population”
• Unchecked population increases at fast rate while food
supply increases at slow rate causing untold
harm/starvation
• Nature imposes restraints to slow population, e.g.
poverty, exposure to seasons, unwholesome
occupations, epidemics, plagues, etc. No government
should interfere with this natural process
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The Blight Begins
• 1845 Potato plants suddenly turned black and curled, then
rotted.
• Fungal spores spread across the United Kingdom in one
month, destroying both the leaves and the potatoes
underground.
• It was like a fog that had drifted through the air.
• It was a fungus carried by ships going back and forth from
America.
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The British Are Not So Helpful
• The British continue to IMPORT wheat, barley, oats
and oatmeal from Irish farmers.
• The Irish had to sell the grain for cash to avoid being
evicted from their homes even though they needed the
food as much as anything.
• Irish sold off livestock, hoping to get through the year.
The crop had never failed two years in a row.
• Some Irish borrowed money at high interest from
British money-lenders, hoping to stay in their homes
and recover the following year.
• Not only did the potato crop fail the NEXT year as well,
it failed for the next three years. Ireland would be nearly
ruined.
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Why Didn’t They Help
• 1. The British landowners with vested Irish interests stifled various
Government plans due to fears of their estates being burdened with
extra taxation.
• 2. Ministers believed that Irish Landlords were largely responsible
for the disaster that was unfolding in Ireland. Due to their
indifference to their estates in Ireland and their tenants, Ministers
would only turn to central Government when local authority
resources were exhausted. They felt that Irish property owners
should pay for Irish poverty.
• 3. There was a belief that the potato blight, which caused the Irish
Potato Famine, was an opportunity to reform and change Irish
agriculture. They also felt that by clearing away surplus population, a
smaller, more prosperous class of farmers could be securely
employed in the agricultural industry. With this viewpoint, the
British Government felt that too much relief would only draw out the
inevitable for all concerned.
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The Famine (Roisin Hambly)
In the Spring of ’45
I planted my potato crop,
But when I dug them up in Winter
They were black and brown from rot.
There were seven in my family,
Four children under five,
I had to find some food for them,
To keep them all alive.
I saw a soldier selling corn,
No one was around,
I took this opportunity
To knock him to the ground.
I robbed him of his food and money
And quickly ran away,
But sadly I was caught and killed
And left there to decay.
It wasn’t too bad to start with,
But by Autumn ’47,
Two members of my family
Had died and gone to Heaven.
That Winter it was long and cold
And every thing was bare,
Then when my lovely wife passed on
I thought it so unfair.
My family were now so thin,
Their faces were so hollow
They decided to emigrate
But foolishly I didn’t follow.
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Visual sources 1/5 Lesson 12
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• "I ventured through that parish this day, to ascertain
the condition of the inhabitants, and although a man
not easily moved, I confess myself unmanned by the
extent and intensity of suffering I witnessed, more
especially among the women and little children,
crowds of whom were to be seen scattered over the
turnip fields, like a flock of famished crows,
devouring the raw turnips, and mostly half naked,
shivering in the snow and sleet, uttering
exclamations of despair, whilst their children were
screaming with hunger. I am a match for anything
else I may meet with here, but this I cannot stand."Captain Wynne, Inspecting Officer, West Clare,
1846
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• Sir Charles Trevelyan takes over full
control of the situation. (He was a
Whig and believed in laissez faire)
• He closes the Corn Meal kitchens
which we set up to keep the Irish from
starving. He said it was to keep Ireland
from being “too dependent on
England.”
• British people who fed the Irish were
rebuked for doing the “wrong thing.”
Trevelyan told them that the Irish
should “form a relief committee.”
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLZRWNdGC
Uc
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• A Catholic priest named Father Matthew wrote to
Trevelyan: "In many places the wretched people
were seated on the fences of their decaying gardens,
wringing their hands and wailing bitterly the
destruction that had left them foodless."
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•
"Miss Kennedy distributing clothing at Kilrish," from The Illustrated London News,
December 22, 1849
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Winter of 46-47
• The winter of 1846 – 47 was the coldest in Ireland in living
memory and the worst on record. Normally, there is no
snow. They got several feet of snow each month through the
winter.
• Poverty in Ireland had always been helped by the mild
climate and the availability of turf/peat for fires, but the cold
now became intense, and people had no energy to cut turf.
• Many children were left in workhouses as families travelled
to the new world. Many of these children did not survive.
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Bad to Worse
• Those that died were buried inches beneath the
ground. Disease began to spread.
• Black Fever (spread by lice) and Typhus spread
across Ireland.
• Now food became available for next to nothing, but
because there was no money in Ireland, people
continued to starve.
• British landlords began evicting the Irish farmers so
that they could grow wheat.
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Coffin Ships
• Landlords began evicting penniless tenants and either
sent them to jail or sent them to Canada.
• The ships were often overcrowded and not well built.
• The 40 day journey often killed 1 in 5 passengers due to
disease and sickness.
• The line of ships to get into port at Quebec was 2 miles
long and took 15 days to process.
• Many dead were dumped into the St. Lawrence river
and others were piled like wood in mass graves.
• The landlords’ promises that there would be someone in
Canada to help them were complete lies. They had said
anything to get them out of Ireland and onto the ships.
• 50,000 Irish walked from Canada to America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEz5mS_XQcQ
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Fleeing
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Financial Ruin
• June 8, 1847: British Parliament passed the Irish Poor Law
Extension Act which put the entire cost of the famine relief on
Ireland’s property owners.
• British Soup kitchens were now being shut down to encourage
the Irish to fend for themselves.
• The British railway industry (unrelated to the potatoes)
financially falls apart.
• 11 British banks completely fail. Bankruptcy occurs in
hundreds of businesses.
• This means there will be no money from Britain to help the
Irish.
• Trevelyan passed a law which required any landowner to give
up their land in order to receive help.
• The Irish began to violently rebel against English authority.
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Financial Ruin
• Britain sent 15,000 soldiers to Ireland to reinforce their
authority.
• 1848: Ireland begins to move for Revolution.
• Britain sends MORE troops.
• Laws were passed which would send anyone who spoke
against the British to jail for 14 years or more.
• Fall 1848: The potato crop fails for the 3rd time.
• Britain cuts off all help for Ireland.
• Irish people begin deliberately committing crimes to be
sent to the prison colony in Australia were there was
food.
• Thousands of Irish now begin boarding ships and
leaving Ireland for America forever.
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Deaths
1843
1844
1845
1846
1847
1848
1849
1850
1851
1852
70,499
75,055
86,900
122,899
249,335
208,252
240,797
164,093
96,798
80,112
Deaths Per
Year
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After the Famine (cont.)
• In summary: 2,500,000 people were lost during
the Famine (1/4 of Ireland’s population!)
• 1,000,000 left for other countries.
• 1,500,000 died.
• Total British expense for the famine: $7 million.
• Total Irish expense for the famine: $8.5 million.
• 40 million Americans have Irish ancestry.
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• Wolf Tones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma55F-BzEyo
• Sinead O’Connor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZCe8Fw8vyM
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