Great Collapses Codexery

The Irish Famine

A period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852, marked by profound demographic and political change.

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Between 1845 and 1850, a potato blight triggered a famine that killed or displaced 25% of the Irish population.[1] Between 1845 and 1852, Ireland experienced widespread starvation and illness, an event known as the Great Famine or Great Hunger.[2] The peak of the famine occurred in 1847, a year that earned the nickname "Black '47".[3]

Key facts and history

The Lumper was by far the most common variety grown in Ireland just before the famine.[1] The agro-ecosystem that developed in Ireland prior to the famine had characteristics typical of vulnerable environments.[1] Potato crops across Europe became infected with blight, which directly triggered the famine.[4] In 1845, tenant farms in Ireland measuring 0.4 to 2 hectares made up 24% of the total, while those of 2 to 6 hectares constituted 40%.[5]

Because these plots were so tiny, families could only grow potatoes to feed themselves.[5] A lack of genetic diversity among potato plants, due to the dominance of the Irish Lumper variety, made the crop more susceptible to disease.[6] Blight destroyed three-quarters of the potato harvest in 1846.[7] Ireland's population stood at about 8.5 million just before the famine began; by 1901, that number had fallen to 4.4 million.[3]

At least 2.1 million individuals emigrated from Ireland during the period from 1845 to 1855.[3]

What the cited sources add

Fraser's 2003 study notes that the Irish peasantry had no food options when the potato crop failed due to economic, demographic, and social pressures.[1] The same study states that the British government provided some famine relief, mostly by selling low-priced grain and employing people on public works projects.[1] The same article quotes a Trevelyan letter stating that if small farmers go, "we shall at last arrive at something like a satisfactory settlement of the country".[8] A 1998 article in The Independent states that Charles E. Trevelyan held the view that "The judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson".[8]

References

  1. Fraser, "Social vulnerability and ecological fragility: building bridges between social and natural sciences using the Irish Potato Famine as a case study", Conservation Ecology, 30 October 2003. facts only, no text reused. ecologyandsociety.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kinealy 1994, p. 5; O'Neill 2009, p. 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Éamon Ó Cuív, – the impact and legacy of the Great Irish Famine; An Fháinleog Chapter 6. " , while it can mean a hard life, or hard times, also, with a capital letter, has a specific, historic meaning: means The Famine Year, ; "Black '47 Ireland's Great Famine and its after-effects - Department of Foreign Affairs", www.dfa.ie; Ross 2002, p. 226; Kinealy 1994, p. 5; "Census of Ireland 1871: Part I, Area, Population, and Number of Houses; Occupations, Religion and Education volume I, Province of Leinster", HMSO, 11 March 1872; Caro en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ó Gráda, "The European subsistence crisis of 1845–1850: a comparative perspective", August 2006; Póirtéir 1995, p. 19–20; Fraser, "Social vulnerability and ecological fragility: building bridges between social and natural sciences using the Irish Potato Famine as a case study", Conservation Ecology, 30 October 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kee 1993, p. 15; Uris Uris 2003, p. 15 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Póirtéir 1995, p. 19–20; Fraser, "Social vulnerability and ecological fragility: building bridges between social and natural sciences using the Irish Potato Famine as a case study", Conservation Ecology, 30 October 2003; "The Irish potato famine", About Biodiversity (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Great Famine (Ireland)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kennedy Ell Crawford Clarkson 1999, p. 69; Ó Gráda 2006, p. 7 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Historical Notes: God and England made the Irish famine", The Independent, 1998-12-03. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Great Famine (Ireland) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Irish Lumper

Also in the Codexery

Great Famine (Ireland) · Natural Disasters

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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