1. The Great Famine
Also known as
The Irish Potato Famine
An Gorta Mór
by Craig Morris

2. The Great Famine in Ireland was between
1845 and 1849
It was caused by a failure of the potato crop which at the
time was the main source of food for the Irish people
A potAto diseAse or ‘blight’ which originAted from the
AmericA’s mAnAged to reAch europe And spreAd Across
England, Scotland, Belgium, Holland and Ireland
Even though the country had experienced previous periods
of famine, this was the worst one yet, resulting in the
deaths of between
1,000,000 and 1,500,000 people, more than the entire loss of
British servicemen in both world wars

3. The potato disease, phytophthora
infestans which would have
reduced the crop to rottenness, is
said to have come from America by
cargo ship.
It was an airborne disease which
destroyed half of the potatoes in
Ireland in the first year of the
famine and the entire crop was
wiped out the following year. By
1846, £3,500,000 worth of potatoes
It was the main source of food in Ireland from when it was
had been lost
introduced to the country in the 16th century. It was fairly
cheap to harvest and was well suited to the climate, meaning
it obviously didn’t need much sunshine to grow in the boggy soil!

4. ‘the only single cheAp food
that can support life as a
sole diet according to recent
nutritive reseArch’
Foster R.F, Modern Ireland, 1600-
The potato is however
1972
deficient in vitamin A, so it
would have been included in a
diet amongst milk and fish.
These would have been rare
amongst the poor.
Due to an uneven
economy, high land rent and
absentee landlords, the poor
farmers would have really
only been able to grow one
type of crop (monoculture)

5. Severity of The Great Famine in
Ireland
60%-100% of people taking up rations
45%-60%
30%-45%
15%-30%
5%-15%
0%-5%
The south and west of Ireland were the
worst affected areas, as they were
more rural and the majority poor
farmers who worked on small plots of
land

6. Ireland was ruled by Britain from 1801
until 1922, who employed the people to
work on their land, reaping the fruits
of their labour and the farmers had to
pay high rent to stay on these small
farms.
If these farmers could not afford the
high rent prices, they were evicted
from their simple dwellings
Skibbereen, 1847 by
James Mahoney
Ireland was one of the largest
suppliers of corn, with an enormous
amount of produce being exported over
to their neighbour, even during the
hunger

7. A poor old woman collecting
water from the well
A family being evicted by the
‘peelers’

8. There were so many dead to
bury, they couldn’t provide neAr
enough the same amount of
coffins to bury them. This
resorted in coffins being used
which were hinged at the bottom
so the deceased could be carried
to the graves and the bodies
just released into the grave.
This enabled the coffins to then
be re-used.
Britain was one of the
wealthiest empires at the time
but they initially decided to do
nothing to help which has been
the subject of question over the
years

9. Sir Robert Peel who was Prime Minister of
Britain at the time and lived in
Tamworth, imported £100,000 worth of corn
to help Ireland, with the opposition of the
British Government.
the ‘corn lAws’ put A duty on imported
grain from outside Britain. Introduced in
1804, they were originally set up in the
interests of the British farmers, so they
could continue to charge high prices for
their home grown corn/grain.
Sir Robert Peel managed to repeal the
Sir Robert Peel, 2nd corn laws after the famine to try and
Baronet help Ireland by buying corn from America.
1788 – 1850 The new corn law was passed in 1846, a
year after the famine began, reducing the
duty on the imported oats, barley and
wheat.

10. Between 1846 and 1850, the
Irish population decreased by
around 2,000,000 people, 25%
of the total population.
Half of these emigrated
during the famine, to places
such as
Australia, Canada, Britain
and the USA, cities such as
Boston and New York
Irish population 1801-1921
Emigrants leave Ireland
by Henry Doyle 1868

11. Irish emigration to Great Britain

12. Memorial statues in
Dublin,
boston…

13. …And A bronze sculpture of A coffin ship
In County Mayo

14. It is estimated that the
population would reach pre- POTATO!
famine levels again around
2024.
Despite the past, generally
the Irish people are happy go
lucky and due to the mass
emigration, you will find Irish
people all over the world.
Potatoes remain one of the
main food products in Ireland
today, and advances in
technology enabled chemicals
to be produced to ensure
Thanks for listening
disease was prevented from
destroying the

15. References
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland_great_famine_of_1845.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/
Coffin ships- http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/coffin.htm
Insight Guide-Ireland, Discovery Channel, (1999)
O'Donnell R, O'Brien Pocket History of the Irish Famine (Pocket Books), (2008)
Donnelly, J.S, The Great Irish Potato Famine, (2002)

16. Image References
Potato blight- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytophthora_infestans
Ireland Map of Rations- http://conservapedia.com/Irish_Potato_Famine
Peelers- http://www.revisionism.nl/Potato/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm
Robert Peel- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Peel.jpg
Emigrants- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
Population chart- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ireland_(1801%E2%80%931923)
Memorials- http://thunderations.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/the-irish-did-save-civilization-then-civilization-
ground-them-down/
http://lost-at-sea-memorials.com/?p=1072
http://pattyinglishms.hubpages.com/hub/Is-it-Good-to-Be-Irish
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23296461@N04/5090239349/
Keith lemon- http://www.flickr.com/photos/orionbooks/6236868287/in/set-72157627752007485