'The Great Famine' of 1845 to 1848 brought about by the failure of the potato crop, was one of the biggest catastrophes in Irish history. Prior to the famine, there were 8 million people living in the country, after, the number of the population was reduced by half. Millions of men, women and children died from starvation and disease, something that could have been prevented. With no financial assistance, the country was torn apart culturally and socially, left to rot and fend for itself.
Causes of the famine
The Irish lived on potatoes. When one of the potato crops started to fail, no one thought anything of it, as it was just an isolated event. One foggy night, a blight was carried in from abroad on a shipment of potatoes and began to destroy all the crops one by one.
"The disease is daily becoming more alarming. In some places, the root has altogether disappeared, having melted into the earth, leaving the withered stalk behind. Everyone is selling off as fast as possible at low rates." ( The Irish Famine, written by Colm Toibin and Diarmaid Ferriter, published by Profile Books in 2001 )
Most people had no money to buy food, they were evicted from their homes and forced to walk the roads begging from neighbours, going from town to town, pleading with anyone who could help them. Carts rumbled all day carrying corpses. Some managed to walk to Dublin and the children ate grass at the side of the road, they were so hungry. They were forced to sell everything they owned to get food. Landlords evicted them from their homes, they were left with nothing but the torn clothes on their backs, dying from starvation. The government decided to bring out the 'poor law' which meant that anyone who wanted food had to give up their holdings first in order to get any assistance.
Conditions were horrific in the work houses. Men, women and children died from pestilence and fever. Those who could afford a ticket, emigrated to America on what were known as 'coffin ships.' Due to the lack of space, being forced to endure the open seas, typhus and maltreatment by the crew, many Irish died on route.
People leaving for America had what was known as the "American Wake.".According to Ray Marshall, in 2000-2011, article "The American Wake," these wakes were for the living, because once you left the shores of Ireland you would never be seen again. "For when money was scarce, travel slow and perilous, illiteracy widespread, and mail service highly uncertain and destinations only vaguely perceived, the departure for North America of a relative or neighbor represented as final a parting as a descent to the grave," says Marshall.
Lack of employment, high rents and chronic poverty were huge contributing factors to the mass famine in Ireland. There was no substitute food to feed the starving population as everything was exported. Some received charitable relief from relatives. According to myguideIreland in 2011, article, "The Great Famine", the land of America was perceived to be Ireland's salvation. "The United States who despite being at war with Mexico at the time, dispatched two warships laden with supplies to assist the starving population."
As a consequence of British laws and cruel abandonment, thousands upon thousands remained trapped in a state of impoverishment and starvation with no way of helping themselves, evicted from their homes, treated like slaves in their own country with no rights, or no means to protect themselves, living in a state of misery. The Irish people couldn't access the resources on their own land as everything was exported. There was nothing they could do. With not enough food and crops for cultivation nor means of employment, there left no choice but to emigrate.
Ireland today has a population of over four million, this would have been doubled if it were not for the famine. In Bantry, south of Cork, a cross marks the burial site of a mass grave, where hundreds of bodies were thrown in together, victims of the famine. Most Irish people had ancestors who died in the famine, those who did survive, ( such as John F. Kennedy's grandfather, who travelled from Ireland aboard a coffin ship ) worked their way through Canada and on into America.
The failure of the potato crop had catastrophic consequences for the Irish people but the tragedy that followed may have been prevented if there had been a proper system in place to help the poor and starving; provide them with food and employment, reduce the cost of imported food to ensure their survival, lower the rents and bestow human decency and compassion. Instead, Ireland was left with a legacy of disease, death and a down trodden and broken society.
Lorraine O Byrne - Lorraine O'Byrne works full-time as a writer. She has a diploma in Freelance Journalism and also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in ...
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