THE FAMINE AN GORTA MOR

The Great Famine Timeline 1775 American Revolution 1861 American Civil War 1789 French Revolution 1886 First Home Rule Bill 1913 Dublin Lockout 1916 Easter Rising 1845 The Great Famine

Ireland before the Famine United country dominated by wealthy English landowners Irish farmers rented their land Hierarchy system land was ‘subdivided’ Landlords Wealthy Farmers Strong Farmers Family Farmers Poor Farmers Cottiers/Labourers

What was a labourer’s home like?

Homes Cottiers/Labourers: -1 room mud hut, no windows or chimneys -If they did not pay their rent they were evicted

Work Some mixed farming but mostly potatoes and hens/turkeys Along the coast they would fish and sell at a market Hiring Fairs for men and women

If you were a Cottier/Labourer Hope to be hired by a wealthy farmer or landlord. You would have to work long hours everyday all year round. You would be paid very little and be under enormous pressure to produce a certain amount of crops. You would also rent a small amount of land (5 acres) and farm it yourself. You would rely on the crop to feed your family. You would also rely on the crop to bargain for necessities or sell to pay your rent.

Why did people reply so heavily on potatoes?

The potato was acted as both food and cash Part of the crop was sold to pay the rent and buy what the family needed. The rest of the crop fed the family. Potatoes required very little care which suited the poor farmers because they had to spend most of their time working for their landlords.

Food Before the famine: Potatoes Milk (skimmed - butter) Herring Sometimes they ate rabbit and birds ‘Hungry months’ – June and July During the famine: Grains/Oatmeal replaced potatoes Berries, nuts, nettles and wild mushrooms

What caused the Famine?

The Blight “Phytophthora infestans” The f ungus first noticed by Dr. David Moore at Botanical Gardens in 1845 Introduced to Ireland through a new fertiliser called “guano” - imported from South America. ⅓ of crop affected in 1845 ⅔ unfit to eat in 1846

The blight was highly contagious. With moist conditions, a single infected potato plant could infect thousands in just a few days. Potatoes dug out of the ground at first looked edible, but shriveled and rotted within days. The fungus blacked the potatoes leaving them withered and emitted a nauseous stench. There had been crop failures in the past due to weather and other diseases, but this strange new failure was unlike anything ever seen.

What did the people think?

Some people thought static electricity in the air resulting from the newly arrived locomotive trains caused it. Some religious Catholics thought it might have been divine punishment for the "sins of the people" Some religious people believed it was a blessing, opportunity to rid Ireland of poverty

The short term effects: The poor in Ireland became homeless When they could not pay the they were evicted from their homes. To make sure the evicted would not return as squatters, landlords tore off the thatched roofs and burned them.

Starving people with their possessions on their back, walked with their children to nowhere. Many dropped dead on the roads. Many homeless, people built hovels on the moors.

The long term effects: – the population fell by 2 million (1 million died and 1 million emigrated) Subdivision of land ended Irish language declined Anti-English feelings among emigrants Bankrupted landlords and shift to cattle farming.

What is the most shocking fact we know about the Famine?

Ireland was exporting more than enough food to feed the starving Throughout the Famine years, large quantities of native- grown wheat, barley, oats and oatmeal sailed out of places such as Limerick and Waterford for England, even though local Irish were dying of starvation. Irish farmers, desperate for cash, routinely sold the grain to the British in order to pay the rent on their farms and thus avoid eviction

What did the English Government do to help people?

Reaction from the Government ‘Public Works Schemes’ To build roads, walls, bridges ect 1 shilling a day (cost 2-3 shillings a day to feed average family) 1847 ‘Soup Kitchen Act’ fed 3 million Throughout the entire Famine period, the British government never provided food aid to Ireland

St James’ Hospital

The Workhouses 1845: 40,000 people in them. 1848: 200,000 people in them. Overcrowding Disease

The Workhouses Very over crowded. Dirty and unclean with lots of disease. Sometimes people wore a uniform. Strict rules to follow and punishment for breaking rules.

What would have happened to you if you entered the workhouse with your family?

Separated from family member Parents allowed see their children in Sundays only. If someone from your family passed away no one would tell you. Many people never saw their families again.

Workhouse Punishments

Sickness Most died not from hunger but from diseases. Typhus was nicknamed 'Black Fever,' it blackened the skin, is spread by body lice and was carried from town to town by beggars and homeless paupers people. Numerous doctors, priests, nuns, and kind-hearted persons who attended to the sick in their lice-infested dwellings also succumbed. At times, entire homeless families, ravaged by fever, simply laid down along the roadside and died, succumbing to 'Road Fever ’

“500 child skeletons found in workhouse mass grave tell of struggle during the Great Famine.”

Desperate Times There wasn’t enough wood to make coffins. Undertakers developed coffins with sliding bottoms so they could be reused after people were buried in mass graves. Some dead were buried without coffins just a few inches below the soil. In some cabins, the dead remained for days or weeks among the living who were too weak to move the bodies outside. In other places, unmarked mass graves were created

Dear Diary 13 th March 1847