The Irish Potato Famine or the Great Famine, Great Irish Famine, or Famine of 1845–49, was a famine that struck Ireland between 1845 and 1849 when the potato harvest failed for consecutive years.Late blight, a disease that damages both the foliage and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant, was blamed for the crop failure. The water mold Phytophthora infestans is the cause of late blight.The famine in Ireland was the worst in Europe throughout the nineteenth century. Ireland was part of Great Britain at that time and suffered through a period of starvation, disease, and emigration between 1845 and 1849 that formed Ireland we know today. This famine had terrible consequences during the nineteenth century, with the population plummeting by 20% to 25%. Certain members of the British administration viewed the Great Irish Famine as an act of God, intended to punish the Irish people and ruin their crops.The blights of “famine fever,” dysentery, and diarrhea had already begun to strike by eating diseased potatoes in 1847. People flocked to cities, begging for food and clogging up workhouses and soup kitchens. Attempts to convert Irish Catholics to Protestantism in a movement known as ‘souperism’ was started. Those who converted were fed here, which intensified the famine’s cultural oppression of the Irish language, dress codes, and traditions. It irrevocably altered the demographic, political, and cultural topography of the island. It is blamed for the demise of the Irish language and the emergence of an Ireland that identifies itself as English-speaking. It sparked several nationalist movements and is often seen as the catalyst for the Irish war of independence, which resulted in Irish independence in the twentieth century.While Irish critics believe that even though the potato crop failed, the country still generated and exported far too many grain crops to feed the population, British researchers claim that more grains were imported than exported during the famine years. During the famine years, farmers had little money to meet people’s needs.If you loved this article, why not read about Ireland healthcare facts and Finland facts here on Kidadl?What caused the Irish potato famine?Phytophthora infestans, which had devastating impacts in Ireland, were caused by a lack of genetic variation among potato plants in Ireland. To boost the amount of rent they could obtain from tenants, the middlemen divided landholdings of landowners into smaller and smaller sections. Because the estates were so small, no other crop would serve to feed the tenants’ families. Poverty was so common that one-third of renters who owned small plots of land could not maintain their families after paying the landlords’ rent. A large number of farmers and laborers were ousted during these difficult times due to the financial burden placed on them. They eventually ran out of money and were unable to pay rent. In 1847, seed potatoes were sparse. Because little seeds had been planted, hunger persisted despite average harvests.Because of the high demand for beef in the United Kingdom, significant land areas in Ireland were used for grazing by cows. Irish peasants chose potato since no other crop could be cultivated abundantly in less favorable soil due to fewer pieces of land. Potatoes had become the year-round primary sustenance of farmers by the 18th century.Because potatoes had been the staple food for most Irish people of that time, the effect was particularly severe in Ireland. The potato was also reasonably easy to cultivate in Irish soil. Landless laborers known as cottiers were frequently allowed to live and work on Irish tenant farmers’ fields and preserve their own potato patches.A typical cottier family used roughly eight pounds of potatoes per person each day, which accounted for about 80% or more of their total caloric intake. Potatoes were also devoured in enormous amounts by the rest of the population. Due to considerable reliance on just one or two high-yielding potato varieties, the genetic variation that generally prevents the disease from decimating an entire crop was greatly diminished, and the Irish became vulnerable to famine.The Irish Potato Famine was caused by a potato disease known as Potato Blight, which decimated potato crops across Europe. In Ireland, between one-third and half of the planted potato crop was destroyed in 1845. The devastation persisted subsequent, with three-quarters of the potato crop devastated and the first reports of starving deaths. The collapse of the potato crop harvest impacted Europe, but it was particularly disastrous in Ireland, where almost three million people were utterly reliant on potatoes for their food.Potato Blight is caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans (fungus-like microorganisms). For many decades, it was thought that the US-1 strain of Phytophthora infestans caused the Irish Potato Famine. Today, US-1 is culpable for billions of dollars in agricultural losses. It was discovered in 2013 that the HERB-1 strain caused the famine. HERB-1 caused many crop failures until improved crop breeding generated HERB-1-resistant potato types in the early twentieth century. The HERB-1 strain, according to scientists, is now extinct.When the crops failed in 1845, Irish officials in Dublin petitioned Queen Victoria and Parliament to intervene—which they did, at first, by removing the so-called corn laws and their grain tariffs, which rendered staple foods like corn and bread prohibitively expensive. Nonetheless, these modifications were insufficient to combat the growing problem of potato blight. Furthermore, British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel purchased from North America what was known as ‘Indian meal,’ which was offered at a discount to the impoverished.To make bread more affordable, he overturned the corn laws, which imposed duties on imported bread. However, when Lord John Russell came to power in June 1846, the focus turned to dependency on Irish resources and an open market economy. Ineffective British rule and inadequate management exacerbated the situation, and mass starvation lasted until 1852 in Ireland. Among Irish nationalists, the ‘Great Hunger was a significant blemish on the Union and the British Empire.The following quotation vividly describes the circumstances during the potato famine: the horrible scenes I have to relay this day are heart-rending, the Parish Priest of Ballaghdereen wrote to the Lord Lieutenant. On this day, two people died of famine. One of them admitted not having eaten a complete meal in 12 days just hours before his death.During the potato famine, some landowners went to great efforts to establish charities and soup kitchens. The common recollection of the famine years was of ruthless landlords backed by the British authorities. People who were already hostile to the British government became even more so due to the British government’s handling of the Irish Famine, which included inadequate measures and choosing to export other Irish food during a period of famine. The precise involvement of the British government in the Irish Famine and its consequences is still being debated, whether it neglected the plight of Ireland’s poor out of hostility or if their cumulative delay and inadequate response could be blamed on ineptitude.During the famine, Ireland had food shortages between 1782 and 1783; therefore, they closed all ports to retain all Irish products to feed their own people. This never occurred during the Great Irish Famine of 1845.Irish Potato Famine ImmigrationBetween 1846 and 1849, one million people died from great hunger and limited food supplies. Another million became immigrants due to the potato blight, which led them to travel to Canada, America, Australia, and other parts of Great Britain. Around 2 million people had fled Ireland by 1855. Many emigrant Irish people died as a result of overcrowded and poorly managed vessels known as coffin ships. Ireland’s population has not restored to pre-famine levels even after more than 150 years.During the 1845–1850 famine, most emigrants went to England, Scotland, South Wales, North America, and Australia. The McCorkell Line was used by many of those fleeing to the Americas. Liverpool was one of the cities that saw an exceptionally massive amount of Irish immigrants, with approximately one-quarter of the city’s population reportedly Irish-born by 1851. This would significantly impact the city’s character and culture in the ensuing years, earning it the moniker “Ireland’s second capital.” When Liverpool elected T. P. O’Connor to parliament in 1885, it became the only place outside of Ireland to do so, and he was re-elected unchallenged until his death.Ireland’s population has not restored to pre-famine levels even after more than 150 years. Famine victims emigrated to North America by ship, as seen in an engraving in 1890. The political, social, and cultural landscape of the country has constantly changed since then.Irish Potato Famine Deaths Approximately 1 million people died in Ireland due to starvation or disease by the time the famine ended in 1852. This amounted to roughly one-eighth of the island’s total population.During the famine years, the number of deaths in workhouses soared uncontrollably, from 6,000 in 1845 to about 66,000 in 1847, and remained in the tens of thousands until the early 1850s. In 1848, there was another bad potato crop, but it improved in the years afterward, resulting in a gradual decline in starvation deaths by 1851. Thousands perished from malnutrition because of tenant farmers’ inability to produce sufficient food for their own consumption and the rising expenses of other commodities. During the famine, many Irish people felt that Ireland grew enough food to sustain its population, but poor management led to the deaths.Except for a few isolated areas, the food crisis had largely ended by 1852. This was not due to a great relief effort; it was due to the potato crop recovering, but mostly because many of the population had perished or departed by then.Who helped Ireland during the famine?While the famine caused a significant rise in emigration from Ireland, ranging from forty-five percent to nearly eighty-five percent, it was not the leading cause.Non-religious organizations joined religious organizations in assisting famine victims with famine relief. One such organization was the British Relief Association. On January 1, 1847, the Association was founded by Lionel de Rothschild, Abel Smith, and other notable bankers and aristocrats. They solicited funds throughout England, America, and Australia.The “ready and willing” impoverished were sent to workhouses rather than receiving famine relief under the conditions of the draconian 1834 British Poor Law, which was enacted in Ireland in 1838. The British support was limited to loans, assisting in the funding of soup kitchens, and providing jobs on road construction and other public works projects.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Ireland potato famine facts, why not look at fun facts about northern Ireland or Ireland potato famine facts?
The Irish Potato Famine or the Great Famine, Great Irish Famine, or Famine of 1845–49, was a famine that struck Ireland between 1845 and 1849 when the potato harvest failed for consecutive years.
