Irish Famine

An Gorta Gaelach
Introduction
The Irish Famine was a very sad time in which thousands of Ireland’s
people died. It is one of the most famous historical events in
Ireland.The Irish Famine was when there was a shortage of the
potatoes.Sir .Walter Raleigh brought the potatoes to Ireland in 1589.
The potato was a favored crop as it needed very little soil to grow and
demanded very little machinery to harvest.An average man could eat up
to about 70 potatoes a day. More than 3 million people had a diet of
only potatoes.In this year more than eight million people lived in
Ireland. More than half of the population lived in tiny mud cabins on a
small piece of land. Communities depended heavily on
agriculture.British landlords owned a lot of the land. They were called
absentee landlords. Ireland was administered by Britain and controlled
from London.
 What was the Great Irish Famine ?
The Famine began in 1845 and ended in 1849. The Famine killed around
1 million Irish people and sadly due to the famine many Irish families
emigrated to America. The famine was caused because the potato crop
failed due to a disease called blight. The Irish relied on potatoes for
most of their meals. At their harvesting time, families went to dig up
their potato crop as they dug, all the potatoes the found were
blackened. They were horrified, no edible potatoes could be found. The
devastated families had to sell some of their property,things that meant
a lot to them and was worth a lot of money. The landlords ran out of
funds to help the Irish farmers so that caused them turning out
hundreds of thousands of Irish farmers and workers. Many families fled
to America in hope of a better life and a place they could stay in and
call home.
 THE FAMINE TIMELINE
1845 1847
Blight (a sort of 1847 was the worst year of the
fungus) comes famine.
over the potato
Diseases spread throughout
the most vital
crop in Ireland.1 Ireland. Many people died from
million people these diseases rather than
die. starvation.These diseases
included typhus, cholera and
scurvy.

1846
The potato fails again when
the blight appears to again
come.Some people ate grass
just to survive.Sir Robert Peel
orders Indian grain for the
Irish.
Workhouses
Workhouses were constructed around Ireland in the 1830s and 1840s.
They were made to help people who needed a help.People hated going
to the workhouses but during The Great Famine many people were left
with no choice.Thus workhouses became overcrowded and many had
chains outside of people waiting to come in.Conditions were atrocious
and families were separated on arrival.Families would only see each
other at Sunday mass.Strict rules were kept, like no bad language and
no communicating during meal times.In workhouses
men would break stones while
women would knit. A rule was kept as such,
that you must not leave once you’ve entered.
Famine Ships
The ships used to bring the Irish who wanted to emigrate were
recognised as ‘coffin ships’.
The conditions on board were abhorrent . The reason the famine ships
were called ‘coffin ships’ came from the amount of people who died
aboard.In 1847, it was predicted that 1 in every 6 passengers died
before reaching their destination.Voyages took many months at a
time.One of the most well known famine ships is the Dunbrody. The
original Dunbrody was built in 1845 in Quebec.In 1845, the very year of
her launch, famine struck Ireland. With the potato crop failing and food
prices soaring, widespread starvation would soon force more than a
million people to flee the country. So many people left, that there were
not enough passenger ships to carry them all. Only two classes of
passengers were carried by he Dunbrody; cabin passengers, paying
between £5 and £8; and steerage passengers, paying between £3 and
Family life
Many people Ireland were very poor during the time of the
famine.The Irish were known to have large families,
yet

had one of
the largest mortality rates due to poor conditions. .

. Due to large family sizes

up to 12 people would be living in
the little mud houses including
their farm animals . The
people started
How we Commemorate the Famine
The National Famine Commemoration Committee was first
established in 2008 following a Government decision to
commemorate the Great Irish Famine with an annual national
famine memorial day. Now every year on a Sunday in May we
have a national Famine Memorial Day.In Dublin there are some
statues there to commemorate the Great Irish Famine.
 References
I got most of my information off

lhttps://www.twinkl.ie/search

And

DUNBRODY FAMINE SHIP EXPERIENCE

& RESTAURANT
& IRISH EMIGRANT EXPERIENCE

And
IRISH POTATO FAMINE
BY: BASIL BURNETTE, CAROLINE ANGLES, AND GRACIE FLEMING