Events and impact of Irish potato famine

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Events and impact of Irish potato famine.

        The Irish farming population have been left counting the cost of the potato famine which has crippled their harvest and left many starving to death. The British government must shoulder the blame after an ineffective, slow and lacklustre effort to support the farmers and improve conditions.

        The famine itself started in September 1845 when leaves on potato plants turned black and curled, then rotted, seemingly as a result of fog which had wafted across the fields. This meant that potatoes then rotted and became inedible.

        The potato is the staple food of the Irish peoples’ diet, consumed with every meal. It had been known in the past that when potato crops had failed, the farmers it affected and their families would starve to death. Due to Ireland’s status as an agricultural nation, the famine hit them especially hard. Only around a quarter of the population can read or write and the life expectancy is around 40.

        Most of the Irish countryside is owned by an English and Anglo-Irish hereditary ruling class. Many landlords barely step foot on their land all year, if at all. These plots of land were confiscated from Irish Catholics by British conquerors such as Cromwell and given to mainly Protestant owners who live off of the rent paid by Catholics whose ancestors once owned the land. The fertile farm land is found in the north and east of Ireland, whereas the least fertile farm land is in the south and west, which situates the mass of the population. Before the famine, it was found that the density of people living on cultivated land was about 700 people per square mile.

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        Ireland’s population grew dramatically and doubled to over 8 million. Bountiful harvests meant that the population was generally well fed but there were still very few employment opportunities. The Act of Union in 1800 meant that Ireland’s economy had been absorbed by Britain and rapid industrialisation meant that Ireland’s linen and woollen industries collapsed. In an 1835 ‘Poor Enquiry’ survey, it was revealed that 75% of labourers in Ireland were without any regular work.

        With the threat of starvation looming, Peel made a decision to repeal the long-standing Corn Laws. These laws had been enacted to artificially keep ...

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