1. The Great Famine Also known asThe Irish Potato Famine An
Gorta Mr by Craig Morris
2. The Great Famine in Ireland was between 1845 and 1849It was
caused by a failure of the potato crop which at the time was the
main source of food for the Irish people A potAto diseAse or blight
which originAted from the AmericAs mAnAged to reAch europe And
spreAd Across England, Scotland, Belgium, Holland and IrelandEven
though the country had experienced previous periods of famine, this
was the worst one yet, resulting in the deaths of between1,000,000
and 1,500,000 people, more than the entire loss of British
servicemen in both world wars
3. The potato disease, phytophthorainfestans which would
havereduced the crop to rottenness, issaid to have come from
America bycargo ship.It was an airborne disease whichdestroyed half
of the potatoes inIreland in the first year of thefamine and the
entire crop waswiped out the following year. By1846, 3,500,000
worth of potatoesIt was the main source of food in Ireland from
when it washad been lostintroduced to the country in the 16th
century. It was fairlycheap to harvest and was well suited to the
climate, meaningit obviously didnt need much sunshine to grow in
the boggy soil!
4. the only single cheAp foodthat can support life as asole
diet according to recentnutritive reseArchFoster R.F, Modern
Ireland, 1600-The potato is however1972deficient in vitamin A, so
itwould have been included in adiet amongst milk and fish.These
would have been rareamongst the poor.Due to an uneveneconomy, high
land rent andabsentee landlords, the poorfarmers would have
reallyonly been able to grow onetype of crop (monoculture)
5. Severity of The Great Famine in Ireland 60%-100% of people
taking up rations 45%-60% 30%-45% 15%-30% 5%-15% 0%-5%The south and
west of Ireland were theworst affected areas, as they weremore
rural and the majority poorfarmers who worked on small plots
ofland
6. Ireland was ruled by Britain from 1801 until 1922, who
employed the people to work on their land, reaping the fruits of
their labour and the farmers had to pay high rent to stay on these
small farms. If these farmers could not afford the high rent
prices, they were evicted from their simple dwellingsSkibbereen,
1847 byJames Mahoney Ireland was one of the largest suppliers of
corn, with an enormous amount of produce being exported over to
their neighbour, even during the hunger
7. A poor old woman collecting water from the wellA family
being evicted by thepeelers
8. There were so many dead tobury, they couldnt provide
neArenough the same amount ofcoffins to bury them. Thisresorted in
coffins being usedwhich were hinged at the bottomso the deceased
could be carriedto the graves and the bodiesjust released into the
grave.This enabled the coffins to thenbe re-used.Britain was one of
thewealthiest empires at the timebut they initially decided to
donothing to help which has beenthe subject of question over
theyears
9. Sir Robert Peel who was Prime Minister of Britain at the
time and lived in Tamworth, imported 100,000 worth of corn to help
Ireland, with the opposition of the British Government. the corn
lAws put A duty on imported grain from outside Britain. Introduced
in 1804, they were originally set up in the interests of the
British farmers, so they could continue to charge high prices for
their home grown corn/grain. Sir Robert Peel managed to repeal the
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd corn laws after the famine to try andBaronet
help Ireland by buying corn from America. 1788 1850 The new corn
law was passed in 1846, a year after the famine began, reducing the
duty on the imported oats, barley and wheat.
10. Between 1846 and 1850, theIrish population decreased
byaround 2,000,000 people, 25%of the total population.Half of these
emigratedduring the famine, to placessuch asAustralia, Canada,
Britainand the USA, cities such asBoston and New York Irish
population 1801-1921 Emigrants leave Ireland by Henry Doyle
1868
11. Irish emigration to Great Britain
12. Memorial statues inDublin,boston
13. And A bronze sculpture of A coffin shipIn County Mayo
14. It is estimated that thepopulation would reach pre-
POTATO!famine levels again around2024.Despite the past,
generallythe Irish people are happy golucky and due to the
massemigration, you will find Irishpeople all over the
world.Potatoes remain one of themain food products in Irelandtoday,
and advances intechnology enabled chemicalsto be produced to ensure
Thanks for listeningdisease was prevented fromdestroying the
15. References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland_great_famine_of_1845.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/ Coffin ships-
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/coffin.htm Insight
Guide-Ireland, Discovery Channel, (1999)ODonnell R, OBrien Pocket
History of the Irish Famine (Pocket Books), (2008) Donnelly, J.S,
The Great Irish Potato Famine, (2002)
16. Image References Potato blight-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophthora_infestans Ireland Map of
Rations- http://conservapedia.com/Irish_Potato_Famine Peelers-
http://www.revisionism.nl/Potato/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm Robert
Peel- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Peel.jpg Emigrants-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland) Population
chart-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ireland_(1801%E2%80%931923)Memorials-
http://thunderations.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/the-irish-did-save-civilization-then-civilization-
ground-them-down/ http://lost-at-sea-memorials.com/?p=1072
http://pattyinglishms.hubpages.com/hub/Is-it-Good-to-Be-Irish
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23296461@N04/5090239349/ Keith lemon-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionbooks/6236868287/in/set-72157627752007485