Potato Famine
Irish Potato Famine
In the ten years following the Irish potato famine of 1845, over 750,000 Irish people died,
including many of those who attempted to immigrate to countries such as the United States
and Canada. Prior to the potato blight, one of the main concerns in Ireland was overpopulation.
In the early 1500s, the country’s population was estimated at less than three million, but by
1840 this number had nearly tripled. The bountiful potato crop, which contains almost all of the
nutrients that a person needs for survival, was largely to blame for the population growth.
However, within five years of the failed crop of 1845, the population of Ireland was reduced by
a quarter. A number of factors contributed to the plummet of the Irish population, namely the
Irish dependency on the potato crop, the British tenure system, and the inadequate relief
efforts of the English.
It is not known exactly how or when the potato was first introduced to Europe, however, the
general assumption is that it arrived on a Spanish ship sometime in the 1600s. For more than
one hundred years, Europeans believed that potatoes belonged to a botanical family of a
poisonous breed. It was not until Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair in the mid-
eighteenth century that potatoes became a novelty. By the late 1700s, the dietary value of the
potato had been discovered, and the monarchs of Europe ordered the vegetable to be widely
planted.
By 1800, the vast majority of the Irish population had become dependent on the potato as its
primary staple. It wasn’t uncommon for an Irish potato farmer to consume more than six
pounds of potatoes a day. Families stored potatoes for the winter and even fed potatoes to
their livestock. Because of this dependency, the unexpected potato blight of 1845 devastated
the Irish. Investigators at first suggested that the blight was caused by static energy, smoke
from railroad trains, or vapours from underground volcanoes; however, the root cause was
later discovered as an airborne fungus that travelled from Mexico. Not only did the disease
destroy the potato crops, it also infected all of the potatoes in storage at the time. Their
families were dying from famine, but weakened farmers had retained little of their agricultural
skills to harvest other crops. Those who did manage to grow things such as oats, wheat, and
barley relied on earnings from these exported crops to keep their rented homes.
While the potato blight generated mass starvation among the Irish, the people were held
captive to their poverty by the British tenure system. Following the Napoleonic Wars of 1815,
the English had turned their focus to their colonial land holdings. British landowners realised
that the best way to profit from these holdings was to extract the resources and exports and
charge expensive rents and taxes for people to live on the land. Under the tenure system,
Protestant landlords owned 95 percent of the Irish land, which was divided up into five-acre
plots for the people to live and farm on. As the population of Ireland grew, however, the plots
were continuously subdivided into smaller parcels. Living conditions declined dramatically, and
families were forced to move to less fertile land where almost nothing but the potato would
grow.
During this same period of colonisation. The Penal Laws were also instituted as a means of
weakening the Irish spirit. Under the Penal Laws, Irish peasants were denied basic human
rights, such as the right to speak their own native language, seek certain kinds of employment,
practice their faith, receive education, and own land. Despite the famine that was devastating
Ireland, the landlords had little compassion or sympathy for tenants unable to pay their rent.
Approximately 500,000 Irish tenants were evicted by their landlords between 1845 and 1847.
Many of these people also had their homes burned down and were put in jail for overdue rent.
The majority of the British officials in the 1840s adopted the laissez-faire philosophy, which
supported a policy of non-intervention in the Irish plight. Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel was an
exception. He showed compassion toward the Irish by making a move to repeal the Corn Laws,
which had been put in place to protect British grain producers from the competition of foreign
markets. For this hasty decision, Peel quickly lost the support of the British people and was
forced to resign. The new Prime Minister, Lord John Russell, allowed assistant Charles Trevelyan
to take complete control over all of the relief efforts in Ireland. Trevelyan believed that the Irish
situation should be left to Providence. Claiming that it would be dangerous to let the Irish
become dependent on other countries, he even took steps to close food depots that were
selling corn and to redirect shipments of corn that were already on their way to Ireland. A few
relief programs were eventually implemented, such as soup kitchens and workhouses;
however, these were poorly run institutions that facilitated the spread of disease, tore apart
families, and offered inadequate food supplies considering the extent of Ireland’s shortages.
Many of the effects of the Irish potato famine are still evident today. Descendants of those who
fled Ireland during the 1840s are dispersed all over the world. Some of the homes that were
evacuated by absentee landlords still sit abandoned in the Irish hills. A number of Irish
descendants still carry animosity toward the British for not putting people before politics. The
potato blight itself still plagues the Irish people during certain growing seasons when weather
conditions are favourable for the fungus to thrive.
including many of those who attempted to immigrate to countries such as the United States
and Canada. Prior to the potato blight, one of the main concerns in Ireland was overpopulation.
In the early 1500s, the country’s population was estimated at less than three million, but by
1840 this number had nearly tripled. The bountiful potato crop, which contains almost all of the
nutrients that a person needs for survival, was largely to blame for the population growth.
However, within five years of the failed crop of 1845, the population of Ireland was reduced by
a quarter. A number of factors contributed to the plummet of the Irish population, namely the
Irish dependency on the potato crop, the British tenure system, and the inadequate relief
efforts of the English.
It is not known exactly how or when the potato was first introduced to Europe, however, the
general assumption is that it arrived on a Spanish ship sometime in the 1600s. For more than
one hundred years, Europeans believed that potatoes belonged to a botanical family of a
poisonous breed. It was not until Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair in the mid-
eighteenth century that potatoes became a novelty. By the late 1700s, the dietary value of the
potato had been discovered, and the monarchs of Europe ordered the vegetable to be widely
planted.
By 1800, the vast majority of the Irish population had become dependent on the potato as its
primary staple. It wasn’t uncommon for an Irish potato farmer to consume more than six
pounds of potatoes a day. Families stored potatoes for the winter and even fed potatoes to
their livestock. Because of this dependency, the unexpected potato blight of 1845 devastated
the Irish. Investigators at first suggested that the blight was caused by static energy, smoke
from railroad trains, or vapours from underground volcanoes; however, the root cause was
later discovered as an airborne fungus that travelled from Mexico. Not only did the disease
destroy the potato crops, it also infected all of the potatoes in storage at the time. Their
families were dying from famine, but weakened farmers had retained little of their agricultural
skills to harvest other crops. Those who did manage to grow things such as oats, wheat, and
barley relied on earnings from these exported crops to keep their rented homes.
While the potato blight generated mass starvation among the Irish, the people were held
captive to their poverty by the British tenure system. Following the Napoleonic Wars of 1815,
the English had turned their focus to their colonial land holdings. British landowners realised
that the best way to profit from these holdings was to extract the resources and exports and
charge expensive rents and taxes for people to live on the land. Under the tenure system,
Protestant landlords owned 95 percent of the Irish land, which was divided up into five-acre
plots for the people to live and farm on. As the population of Ireland grew, however, the plots
were continuously subdivided into smaller parcels. Living conditions declined dramatically, and
families were forced to move to less fertile land where almost nothing but the potato would
grow.
During this same period of colonisation. The Penal Laws were also instituted as a means of
weakening the Irish spirit. Under the Penal Laws, Irish peasants were denied basic human
rights, such as the right to speak their own native language, seek certain kinds of employment,
practice their faith, receive education, and own land. Despite the famine that was devastating
Ireland, the landlords had little compassion or sympathy for tenants unable to pay their rent.
Approximately 500,000 Irish tenants were evicted by their landlords between 1845 and 1847.
Many of these people also had their homes burned down and were put in jail for overdue rent.
The majority of the British officials in the 1840s adopted the laissez-faire philosophy, which
supported a policy of non-intervention in the Irish plight. Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel was an
exception. He showed compassion toward the Irish by making a move to repeal the Corn Laws,
which had been put in place to protect British grain producers from the competition of foreign
markets. For this hasty decision, Peel quickly lost the support of the British people and was
forced to resign. The new Prime Minister, Lord John Russell, allowed assistant Charles Trevelyan
to take complete control over all of the relief efforts in Ireland. Trevelyan believed that the Irish
situation should be left to Providence. Claiming that it would be dangerous to let the Irish
become dependent on other countries, he even took steps to close food depots that were
selling corn and to redirect shipments of corn that were already on their way to Ireland. A few
relief programs were eventually implemented, such as soup kitchens and workhouses;
however, these were poorly run institutions that facilitated the spread of disease, tore apart
families, and offered inadequate food supplies considering the extent of Ireland’s shortages.
Many of the effects of the Irish potato famine are still evident today. Descendants of those who
fled Ireland during the 1840s are dispersed all over the world. Some of the homes that were
evacuated by absentee landlords still sit abandoned in the Irish hills. A number of Irish
descendants still carry animosity toward the British for not putting people before politics. The
potato blight itself still plagues the Irish people during certain growing seasons when weather
conditions are favourable for the fungus to thrive.
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