From Mahood to Hood
The Great Famine - An Gorta Mor - was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1849. The population of Ireland had almost doubled in the 50 years preceding 1845. With the country dependent on farming and no more land available, land owners began sub-dividing their land. Smallholders were often evicted to make way for new farming methods. Only one crop could produce enough food to sustain peasant families farming the tiny plots of land they had been forced onto – the potato.
During the famine years, there was plenty of other food grown in Ireland but, under the system of the time, almost all of that food was exported to England to be consumed by the expanding workforce which had resulted from the industrial boom.
During the famine years, there was plenty of other food grown in Ireland but, under the system of the time, almost all of that food was exported to England to be consumed by the expanding workforce which had resulted from the industrial boom.
With just the potato crops to sustain them, when the entire crop failed in 1845 due to potato blight, there was nothing for the poor to eat. There was effectively no potato crop in 1846 as well and although there was little blight in 1847 there had been too few potatoes planted for the harvest to be of any use. Crops failed again in 1848. Although many had enough land to grow crops other than potatoes, they were caught in an impossible bind – they had to sell these crops to pay rent or face eviction.
Many landlords used the crisis to take away people’s homes. More than a quarter of a million labourers and tenant farmers were evicted between 1845 and 1854 and more than that number simply walked away from their homes, never to return, rather than face certain starvation. Many could not pay the increasing rents on their farms and ended their days in the workhouses. Thousands of evicted families roamed the country in search of food. Thousands of children were orphaned. Over one million Irish people died of hunger and disease.
Many landlords used the crisis to take away people’s homes. More than a quarter of a million labourers and tenant farmers were evicted between 1845 and 1854 and more than that number simply walked away from their homes, never to return, rather than face certain starvation. Many could not pay the increasing rents on their farms and ended their days in the workhouses. Thousands of evicted families roamed the country in search of food. Thousands of children were orphaned. Over one million Irish people died of hunger and disease.
The British Government was far too slow to act. Instead of retaining crops and other food which was already being produced in Ireland, cheaper Indian corn was imported in various efforts at relief. However official attempts to provide relief, in the form of imported corn or in any other form, were sporadic, short lived and inadequate for the numbers who were in need. Of the effective help that was provided during the famine little came from the government in London.
In spite of the various relief efforts by charitable organisations such as the Quakers and the Protestant Church, the numbers of dead and the numbers leaving continued to rise throughout 1847 and in subsequent years up to 1856. Over one million people left Ireland for other countries, including Scotland, England, North America and Australia. Because of their poverty and poor state of health, Irish immigrants to Scotland tended to settle in or around their point of disembarkation – Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland. |