THE FAMINE

• 1800s in Ireland


  By 1841, the population of ireland had reached 8.2 million. It was 5.5 million in 1801. Some parts of ireland were industrialised like britain particularly around belfast and dublin. Ulster had a succesful textiles industry, particularly linen. Dublins industries included wool and guinness bewery
• Life in Belfast and Dublin


  Overcrowding became a serious problem, leading to one and sometimes two families living in just one room

  Diseases such as typhoid, cholera, smallpox, scarlet fever and tuberculosis were common in cities and towns. Death rates amongst infants were particularly high
• Life in rural Ireland in the 1800s- population


  In 1841, more than 70% of the Irish population still lived in the countryside. In under a century, the Irish population had doubled to over 8.2 million. This was mainly down to two reasons:

  • Irish people tended to marry young and have large families at the time.

  • Agricultural improvements meant more food was available.
• Rural Ireland in the 1800s- farming


  Most land was owned by landlords (descendants of the planters). Irish people rented and farmed this land, growing crops to feed their families and pay their rent. Most farmers in Ireland were tenant farmers. Large farmers were

  able to rent more than 30 acres while small farmers rented between 5 and 30 acres.

  • Poorer people worked as labourers with some able to rent one acre from a farmer. These were

  known as cottiers. They usually paid their rent by working for the farmer. By 1845, there was about 1 million Irish cottiers.
• The government of Ireland


  After the act of union, the irish parliament ceased to exist so Ireland sent 100 MPs to the House of Commons in westminster and was now represented by 32 peers in the House of Lords.
• The Catholic question


  The biggest political issue in Ireland at this time was the Catholic Question. Many Catholics had supported the act of union because the british government had promised that the last of the penal laws would be abolished and full Catholic emancipation would be granted. However all MPs had to wear an oath recognising the king of England as head of the Church. No Catholic could swear this as to them the Pope was the head of the Church so they could not become MPs. They were unhappy because the promise to introduce emancipation after the union had been broken. Catholics also resented Paying tithes to the Church of Ireland.
• Parliamentary tradition


  The use of peaceful political means to achieve political change
• Early life


  Daniel O' Connell was born in 1775 in county Kerry. He was born into a wealthy Catholic family. He was sent to France to get a university education. His time in Paris overlapped with the French Revolution. O Connel returned home in 1793 with a lifelong hatred of political violence.
• Catholics Emancipation


  He also founded the Catholic Association in 1823 to campaign not just for emancipation but also for tithe payments and the rights of tenant farmers. One penny a month was collected at Church gates and became known as the Catholic Rent. This money funded the campaign

  In 1828, O Connel stood in Clare for election to Westminster. The British prime minister feared another rebellion if emancipation was not granted so westminster passed the emancipation act. At the end of the 1830s, O Connell started organising monster meetings around Ireland. These were huge rallies and the british government grew concerned that these meetings would lead to a rebellion. When the british cancelled one of these meetings, o Connell called off the meeting.
• Legacy


  His approach to political action- rejecting violence influenced a lot of people in the world.
• Years of the famine

  1845-1850
• What is the famine?


  The potato crop had failed and without other crops to feed themselves, people died of starvation and disease or were forced to emigrate
• Why the famine started


  blight arrived in Ireland, causing the potato crop to fail. There were several factors which helped to make the arrival of the blight into a national catastrophe:

  • The majority of Irish people were dependant on farming.

  • Widespread poverty meant people were already very vulnerable.

  • The rise in population meant that, over time, people had to live off smaller and smaller plots of land with very large families.

  • The poor were reliant on the potato for food. Potatoes was the main crop in Ireland because A small plot of land was more than enough to grow enough potatoes to feed a family as well as potatoes being easy to harvest and store.

  • Cottiers worked in exchange for rent so they had no cash to buy other food.
• Potato blight


  Fungus that spreads in damp and humid weather and destroys potato crops
• Causes of the great famine

  Rise in population

  Reliance on the potato

  The potato blight

  Widespread poverty
• The course of the great famine

  The potato blight didn't only affect Ireland other European countries also lost their potato crops but they had other available food and weren't reliant on farming.
• 1845


  Farmers noticed the potato stalks turning black. The potatoes had rotted but some of the previous harvest that had been in storage was able to be used
• 1846


  Two-thirds of the year's crop was lost to blight. The potatoes in storage had been

  used up. The poorest began to starve and diseases spread easily as immune systems were weakened. Diseases- tuberculosis, measles and scarlet feaver
• 1847


  Black '47 - The worst year of the famine. People had very few seeds to plant so the

  crop was very small.
• 1848-1850


  Starvation and diseases (such as typhus and cholera) worsened. Roughly 40,000

  more people died in 1850 than in 1846.
• Typhus and cholera


  People moving to towns to find work brought diseases with them and it spread rapidly
• Eviction


  Many tenant farmers and cottiers could not pay their rent and, as a result, were evicted. Eviction is when someone is forced out of their home.
• Emigration


  Those who could afford to leave emigrated and were considered lucky although they faced a hard and uncertain journey. The ships were unsuitable, unstable and in poor condition. They became known as coffin ships as so many died on board of disease and starvation.
• The course of the great famine

  The potato blight didn't only affect Ireland other European countries also lost their potato crops but they had other available food and weren't reliant on farming.
• 1845


  Farmers noticed the potato stalks turning black. The potatoes had rotted but some of the previous harvest that had been in storage was able to be used
• 1846


  Two-thirds of the year's crop was lost to blight. The potatoes in storage had been

  used up. The poorest began to starve and diseases spread easily as immune systems were weakened. Diseases- tuberculosis, measles and scarlet feaver
• 1847


  Black '47 - The worst year of the famine. People had very few seeds to plant so the

  crop was very small.
• 1848-1850


  Starvation and diseases (such as typhus and cholera) worsened. Roughly 40,000

  more people died in 1850 than in 1846.
• Typhus and cholera


  People moving to towns to find work brought diseases with them and it spread rapidly
• Eviction


  Many tenant farmers and cottiers could not pay their rent and, as a result, were evicted. Eviction is when someone is forced out of their home.
• Emigration


  Those who could afford to leave emigrated and were considered lucky although they faced a hard and uncertain journey. The ships were unsuitable, unstable and in poor condition. They became known as coffin ships as so many died on board of disease and starvation.
• Famine relief efforts


  Initially, the British government took a laissez-faire ('let it be') attitude, believing that they should not interfere in the economy as it would correct itself in time. Britain did not rely on the potato for food as Ireland did, believing the blight would only affect one year of crops. As a result, Britain

  continued to export food from Ireland.
• Laissez faire


  A government should not interfere in the economy as it would correct itself eventually
• Maize


  As it became apparent that the blight would not end as quickly as believed, some help was put in place by the British government:

  • Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel sent aid in the form of maize in November 1845, at cost price enough to feed one million people for a month. Most people could not afford it nor did they know how to cook it.
• Public works schemes


  Public works schemes were set up for people to earn money by building roads, walls or bridges for one shilling per day. This wasn't enough as prices continued to rise
• Workhouses


  Workhouses had been established for those who had nowhere else to go in the early 1840s. By 1847, 200,000 people were in these workhouses where disease spread quickly and easily. The whole family had to enter together however some were split up and never me again
• Workhouses definition


  A large building where people worked in return for basic accommodation and food
• The quakers


  Set up soup kitchens. Groups such as the quakers raised awareness worldwide of irelands ned, and donations came from at last 19 different countries. Queen Victoria donated money. The ottoman sultan sent both money and food
• Soup kitchens


  Gave soup to starving people who were not in workhouses
• Fall in population


  There were over 8 million people in Ireland in 1841. Between 1845-1850, population dropped by two million. Roughly one million died from disease and starvation while one million emigrated.