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Irish Famine 1845 - 1850 (Over-reliance of Potato (very important crop for…
Irish Famine 1845 - 1850
Background
Penal laws repealed in 1830s most agricultural land owned by 20,000 wealthy often absent landlords
Protestant Ascendancy, 95% lived on landlord owned land
Tenant farmers
rented farm ten acres from landlord, some rich and had larger farms
middle men, descendant of pre-penal laws wealthy Catholics, rented large areas of land, divided into small and rented for profit
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Cottiers
worked for tenant farmers, rented small patch of land called conacre, 1/2 acre
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relied on potato, west used lazybeds, planted potatoes and covered them in a layer of soil
Over-reliance of Potato
very important crop for peasants, highly nutritious, large quantities small patch, suited climate
proved disastrous following potato blight of 1845, fungus attacked potato as it grew and made inedible, spread 1846 death
Black '47 worst year, tens of thousands died
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tenant farmers and cottiers paid rent in potatoes, blight made them unable to pay, evicted, some allowed to stay
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British response
British responsible for Irish affairs since Act of Union 1801, reaction slow, made moves to alleviate suffering
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Indian maize imported to be cooked introduced by Robert Peel, people didn't know how to cook and starved
Results
population halved, 1 million died, 3 million emigrated
foreign cities swamped, discrimination and slum areas was life for Irish
Irish language took a huge hit, west strongest Irish speakers, west hit worst
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Subdivision came to an end, caused many young sons emigrated