The Great Irish Famine Overview

The Great Irish Famine (1845-1849)

• The Great Famine was a severe famine in Ireland from 1845 to 1849, triggered by potato crop failures due to late blight.
• The disease, caused by Phytophthora infestans, destroyed potato plants.
• This was the worst famine in 19th-century Europe, deeply impacting Ireland's demographics and social structure.

Causes of the Famine

• Ireland's tenant farmers, especially in the west, were reliant on potatoes as a staple food by the 1840s.
• The reliance on a narrow range of potato varieties vulnerable to disease.
• Limited diversity in potato varieties increased susceptibility to disease leading to a major food crisis.
• Irish tenant farmers and landless labourers (cottiers) depended heavily on potatoes providing 80% or more of their caloric intake.
• Cottiers had their own potato plots
• Ireland's reliance on a single food source made the population extremely vulnerable to famine.

British Government Response & Impact

• Initial efforts by Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel included importing corn from the US and providing some relief.
• The subsequent Liberal government under Lord John Russell adopted a laissez-faire approach centered on Irish resources.
• The British government's response was deemed inadequate by many.
• Financial burden of relief fell largely on Irish and British landlords.
• Evictions became widespread among tenant farmers and laborers as they were unable to pay rent.
• Harsh British Poor Law forced the able-bodied poor into workhouses rather than receiving direct aid.
• Reliance on imported cornmeal had nutritional deficiencies.
• Significant private aid existed, along with assistance by the British government, however efforts were limited and often resented.
• Irish peasantry continued to export food to Britain despite their own poverty and hunger during this time.

Demographic Impacts

• The famine drastically reduced Ireland's population, from 8.4 million in 1844 to 6.6 million in 1851.
• Agricultural laborers and small-holders in western and southwestern Ireland experienced the most significant population decline.
• Landownership became concentrated in fewer hands.
• Increased land use for sheep and cattle for export to Britain.
• Approximately 1 million deaths from starvation and related diseases.
• Probable emigration of 2 million Irish people.

Long-Term Effects

• 49 percent of emigrants to the U.S. between 1841 and 1850 were Irish.
• Ireland's population continued to decline due to emigration and lower birth rates.
• Ireland's population in 1921 was significantly lower than in the early 1840s.
• The famine fostered widespread resentment against British rule.