Irish Famine WAY
THE Great Irish FAMINE 1845-1852
As European nations underwent the cultural and sociopolitical transformations of the Spring of Nations in 1848, Ireland was at the height of a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration.
This dark period of Irish history is known as the 'Great Famine' or the 'Great Hunger'. In Ireland, the repeated famines of the 18th and 19th centuries were referred to as "An Drochshaol", which simply means the hard times but the Great Famine was and is known as ' An Gorta Mór' because it surpassed all others. Outside of Ireland it may be referred to as the 'Irish Potato Famine', but many Irish find this description pejorative. Depending on the source, the reason for the last mass famine in western civilization during peacetime, is variously attributed to the Phytophthora Infestans which swept Europe at that time; the absentee (British) landlord system;an act of divine punishment; the greed of the Irish and British merchants; the gross mismanagement by the British Government or genocide.
As the people suffered they sought better fortune overseas, leaving their homeland behind and emigrating around the globe to places such as the Irish diaspora countries: America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
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EFFECTS ON IRELAND
In a European country which had a population of over eight million, over one million starved to death or died of related disease; over one million fled in the immediate aftermath and a further two million left in the decades that followed. The population of Ireland was halved when the population of every other western nation grew.
Whist the potato blight struck all of Europe, Ireland's unique "middleman" system resulted in 40% of the Irish population
subsisting on a diet which featured potatoes as the staple. The Whig Prime Minister Russell, following a laissez-faire policy to deadly effect; closed the ports to imports and opened them to exports, unlike his Belgian and Dutch neighbors.
As the predominately Gaelic speaking provinces of Connacht and Munster were disproportionately affected by the Great Famine, the Irish language was almost wholly extinguished.
Whilst many were evicted and succumbed to starvation, the elements, and disease; many survived the long march to the ports and the forced 'assisted passage' to take the next step on their journey of survival.
SITES IN IRELAND
As the entire island of Ireland was affected by the Great Famine, there are famine heritage sites scattered across the 32 counties, where one can experience the atmosphere of this watershed of Irish history and culture.
These sites include all the shades of Dark Tourism; from coffin ships, graveyards and famine trails to workhouse museums, interactive exhibitions and memorial sites.
The large variety of graveyards, memorials and famine trails offers us an opportunity to reconnect with the land by travelling or walking across the lush Irish countryside, in the path of our 19th century ancestors.
As our Sites by Map page shows there are even sites located outside of Ireland, which demonstrates the global effect of the Great Famine on the world, as the Irish took this dark chapter of their history and culture with them to seek a better life.
GLOBAL EFFECTS OF THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE
Whist the Great Famine impacted Ireland and it's people profoundly, the effects of it were felt on a near global scale due to mass emigration; English-speaking countries such as America, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia received the most Irish emigrants escaping the Great Famine.
Yet their struggle hadn't ended once they bought or were forced to take passage to these countries, as the aptly named 'coffin ships' of the Famine such as the Jeanie Johnston saw many die during the journey. During 1847, of the 100,000 Irish emigrants traveling to Canada, an estimated one out of five died when making the journey.
Dedicated sites such as the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum , delve deep into this subject and we recommend a visit or going to their website to find out more!
