how many people died in the irish potato famine

This tragedy coincided with the repeal of the Corn Laws by the existing Prime Minister Robert Peel. The Famine had a traumatic impact on the growing industrial town of Belfast, which attracted large numbers of famished and disease-ridden people from all parts of Ulster. The Liberal (Whig) cabinet of Lord John Russell, which assumed power in June 1846, maintained Peel’s policy regarding grain exports from Ireland but otherwise took a laissez-faire approach to the plight of the Irish and shifted the emphasis of relief efforts to a reliance on Irish resources. During the famine, around a million people died and over a million emigrated from Ireland - a significant proportion of whom ended up on America’s east coast. Thereafter, more land than before was used for grazing sheep and cattle, providing animal foods for export to Britain. The number of agricultural labourers and smallholders in the western and southwestern counties underwent an especially drastic decline. About one million people died from starvation or from typhus and other famine-related diseases. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. It continued to destroy potato crops from 1846 to 1849. By 1911 Ireland’s population was less than half of what it had been before the famine.…. The Irish population – a drastic decline. The Irish famine was the worst to occur in Europe in the 19th century. Although Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel continued to allow the export of grain from Ireland to Great Britain, he did what he could to provide relief in 1845 and early 1846. Eventually the blight passed, but as many as a million people left the country to start new lives abroad, especially in America, Canada, Australia and England. It has been estimated that at least one million died of starvation and disease in the late 1840s, and at least another one million immigrated during the famine. Potatoes. About one third of the country depended on the humble spud for various political and economic reasons. British Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized for doing "too little" in response to the Irish Potato Famine of the 19th century that killed one million people and brought about the emigration of millions more. It is a plant disease. The outcome of the famine, a disaster for Ireland involving the death or emigration of millions of people, has to be seen in the context of the long-term agenda of the liberal state, which included Ireland as a…, …starvation and fever in the Great Potato Famine that ensued, and even more fled abroad. Additionally, because the financial burden for weathering the crisis was placed largely on Irish landowners, hundreds of thousands of tenant farmers and laborers unable to pay their rents were evicted by landlords unable to support them. Much of that year’s potato crop rotted in the fields. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. An estimated two million more emigrated from the country. All in all, the British government spent about £8 million on relief, and some private relief funds were raised as well. The country in the aftermath of the Great Famine became increasingly dominated by large farmers and its economy became one that was based on the rearing and breeding of cattle. In 1845 a strain of Phytophthora arrived accidentally from North America, and that same year Ireland had unusually cool moist weather, in which the blight thrived. But just what triggered The Great Hunger and how is … No one person caused the problem. Victims of the Irish Potato Famine arriving in Liverpool, Eng. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. By the time Ireland achieved independence in 1921, its population was barely half of what it had been in the early 1840s. It is still very unsure the exact mortality rate during the famine is it believed that about 20,000 died of disease and a little below then 1 million from disease. Pope Pius IX, Russian Tsar Alexander II, US President James K Polk, and then congressman Abraham Lincoln sent funds, while Queen Victoria donated £2,000. The effects of the Irish Potato Famine continued to spur on Irish immigration well into the 20th century after the devastating fungus that destroyed Ireland's prized potato crops died out in 1850. The Famine was a tragedy for Ireland and it changed the island forever. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. It meant that the potato, which used up relatively little arable land and resources, was grown by tenants to feed themselves, while the rest of their small plots were devoted to growing produce to sell on. In total, then, at least 20,365 people perished (the numbers of those that died further along in their journey from illnesses contracted on … Ireland, which since 1801 had been part of the United Kingdom, was heavily reliant on the potato as the main source of food for much of its rural tenant population. Connaught and Munster were the worst affected provinces followed by Ulster and then Leinster, but the latter still saw well over 100,000 deaths. Millions of people died in Ireland during the mid-1800"s when their food crop, potatoes, became sick. Because of this and their bright yellow colour, locals named the maize "Peel's Brimstone". By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. James Mahoney was … It was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland. Ireland’s population fell by around 25% as a result. ; illustration in the, Victims of Ireland's Great Famine (1845–49) immigrating to North America by ship; wood engraving, …in the case of the Irish Potato Famine in the late 1840s. When Peel was forced to resign on 29 June, his Whig successor Lord John Russell took a "laissez-faire" approach, believing the free market would help ease the suffering. The number of Irish who emigrated during the famine may have reached two million. Famine hardened resentment toward the British who ruled Ireland. It has been calculated that at least 1 million people, or about 12-15% of the population died, mostly from disease, during the famine, the dead being overwhelmingly from the rural poor. By the early 1840s almost half the Irish population—but primarily the rural poor—had come to depend almost exclusively on the potato for their diet. The impoverished Irish peasantry, lacking the money to purchase the foods their farms produced, continued throughout the famine to export grain, meat, and other high-quality foods to Britain. The Irish Potato Famine was a food crisis that took place in Ireland between 1845 and 1851 and which led to the death of one million people as a result of starvation or disease. It had risen from about 2 million in 1700 to over 5 million in 1801 and the first proper census in 1841 recorded a population of 8,175,124. Updates? In the early 19th century, Ireland’s tenant farmers as a class, especially in the west of Ireland, struggled both to provide for themselves and to supply the British market with cereal crops. About two million people migrated to Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere in the period 1845–1855. Of 98,105 passengers (of whom 60,000 were Irish), 5293 died at sea, 8072 died at Grosse Isle and Quebec, 7,000 in and above Montreal. Despite those shortcomings, by August 1847 as many as three million people were receiving rations at soup kitchens. Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences; Professor of Economics and History, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. The Irish Famine is but one story within Grosse Île’s long history, and yet the facts are stark. The devastation from the potato famine in Ireland changed the course of Irish history. Grab a copy of our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! It led to mass starvation and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and it resulted in the deaths of approximately one million people. Irish Potato Famine. Because the peasantry was unable to pay its rents, however, the landlords soon ran out of funds with which to support them, and the result was that hundreds of thousands of Irish tenant farmers and labourers were evicted during the years of the crisis. Of the 100,000 Irish that sailed to British North America in 1847, an estimated one out of five died from disease and malnutrition, including over five thousand at … It caused the death of one million Irish people and was responsible for another million leaving Ireland in the mid 19th century. It proportionally caused more destruction of human life than most modern famines. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. The 1845 summer was wet and humid and the potato crop was infected by 'blight'. It allowed proprietors to suck the very life-blood of that wretched race". Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The government’s grudging and ineffective measures to relieve the famine’s distress intensified the resentment of British rule among the Irish people. He authorized the import of corn (maize) from the United States, which helped avert some starvation. It was argued by Edwards et al. Hopes soar that sun-starved Brits could jet off to Euro hotspots this summer, £148m EuroMillions winner Gillian Bayford gives birth aged 48 in lockdown, Queen bans military uniform for royals at Duke's funeral sparing Harry's blushes, Shock mugshot of ex-Gladiator Shadow shows him on drugs and dead-eyed, ©News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. The rest of the population also consumed it in large quantities. It was because the Irish were dependant on one farming crop. Estimates say that between a million and 1.5million people died, and in total the population of Ireland dropped by almost a quarter. The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight. By 1911, Ireland's population had dropped to four million. The Great Famine. As a direct consequence of the famine, Ireland's population fell from almost 8.4 million in 1844 to 6.6 million by 1851. A STARVING population cut by a quarter, with a million dying and a million more emigrating as refugees, the Potato Famine of 1845-1852 shaped the history of Ireland more than any event since the plantation of British settlers in the 1600s. Moreover, emigration continued after the famine ended in 1850. Similarly damaging was the attitude among many British intellectuals that the crisis was a predictable and not-unwelcome corrective to high birth rates in the preceding decades and perceived flaws, in their opinion, in the Irish national character. The Irish famine was the worst to occur in Europe in the 19th century. The Irish Famine of 1740–1741 (Irish: Bliain an Áir, meaning the Year of Slaughter) in the Kingdom of Ireland, is estimated to have killed between 13% and 20% of the 1740 population of 2.4 million people, which was a proportionately greater loss than during the Great Famine of 1845–1852.. Under the terms of the harsh 1834 British Poor Law, enacted in 1838 in Ireland, the “able-bodied” indigent were sent to workhouses rather than being given famine relief per se. The Great Famine of Ireland killed almost one-eighth of the population. During the famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%. The estimates range from 500,000, to 1.5 million deaths due to starvation. Ireland’s population continued to decline in the following decades because of overseas emigration and lower birth rates. For other inquiries, Contact Us. During the famine, approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the … Bread prices were also kept artificially high by tariffs imposed in the Corn Laws, which were not repealed until 1846. Many more emigrated in a desperate attempt to save their families from starvation and mass unemployment. Some of the British elite viewed the famine as an act of Providence meant to punish the perceived shortcomings of Irish agriculture and the Irish people. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The number of Irish who emigrated during the famine may have reached two million. 2 An illustration of Irish gathered outside a workhouse during the Famine. Yields continued to massively under-perform for the next six years and starvation, disease and poverty crippled the nation. Historians have been highly critical of the British response to the famine. Instead, students of Irish history might learn more by comparing the Great Hunger with other famines such as the Persian famine of 1917-1918, widely considered the deadliest famine in history, in which millions of Iranians died, and for which many people also blame the British government. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Commenting is currently disabled on this article. The Irish disliked the imported cornmeal, and reliance on it led to nutritional deficiencies. that the precise number of deaths is of secondary concern to simple fact that a very many people died. By the time of the famine, nearly half of Ireland's population relied almost exclusively on potatoes for their diet, and the other half ate potatoes frequently. The Irish Famine caused the first mass migration of Irish people to the United States. The Famine resulted in incr… Even more, up to two million, migrated out of Ireland. A heavy reliance on just one or two high-yielding types of potato greatly reduced the genetic variety that ordinarily prevents the decimation of an entire crop by disease, and thus the Irish became vulnerable to famine. The Irish Potato Famine lasted from 1845 to 1849. On 24 March, The Times reported that Britain had allowed to flourish in Ireland "a mass of poverty, disaffection, and degradation without a parallel in the world. A further aftereffect of the famine was thus the clearing of many smallholders from the land and the concentration of landownership in fewer hands. Prime Minister John Peel signed off on purchasing £100,000 of maize secretly from America at the beginning of the potato failure in 1845, but the shipment did not arrive until February 1846. Answer and Explanation: Approximately 1 million people died from famine in Ireland. An illustration of Irish people begging for food during the Irish Potato Famine of the mid 1800s. Continuing emigration and low birth rates meant that by the 1920s Ireland's population was barely half of what it had been before the famine. As a direct consequence of the famine, Ireland’s population of almost 8.4 million in 1844 had fallen to 6.6 million by 1851. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. View our online Press Pack. There is no clear record of the number of deaths from the Potato Famine since members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) destroyed most church records in 1922. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1.5 million people died as a result of the famine while over one million fled the country. Advertisement. "I saw the dying, the living, and the dead, lying indiscriminately upon the same floor." https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history, History Learning Site - The Great Famine of 1845, Irish Potato Famine - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Learn how the Irish Potato Famine devastated the Irish population and sparked starvation and migration. But in fact, the English government was guilty of doing too much. By 1846, three quarters of the harvest was lost to blight, and hundreds of thousands of destitute farmers were taken into public works desperate to be fed and housed. Ireland - Potato Famine - 1846-1849. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. A famine swept through the country leaving approximately one million people dead and millions more starving and on the verge of experiencing the same fate. Potatoes were the staple died for a third of Ireland's mainly tenant farmer population in the mid-19th century. In 1841 the population of Ireland was between 8-9 million, a about 1 million people believed to have died during the ten year span. By the time Ireland finally became a republic in 1921, half of … Between 1945 and 1949, Ireland experienced one of the greatest and most catastrophic disasters in the country's history. A million Irish died and another million left the island before the famine lifted in 1852. It is estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million people died as a result of the famine. Many farmers had long existed at virtually the subsistence level, given the small size of their allotments and the various hardships that the land presented for farming in some regions. A disease called late blight destroyed the leaves and edible roots of the potato plants in successive years from 1845 to 1849. With such overcrowding in a space holding so many ill people, mortality rates increased at an alarming rate from week to week, jumping from 91 deaths in … Even then, the tough kernels needed to be laboriously ground down in mills before distribution, and required lengthy cooking to make them edible. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Charitable donations were sent from all around the world. It decisively shaped Irish society for many decades and even to the present day, it effects are still felt. But how did the Great Famine come about, what did the British government and the Royals do to help, and how did it affect the country? Cities such as Dublin, Belfast and Cork saw a rise in population as the destitute flocked there in the hope of aid. Estimates say that between a million and 1.5million people died, and in total the population of Ireland dropped by almost a quarter. It is estimated that one million or more people starved, or died due to complications of malnourishment. About one million people died during the Great Famine from starvation or from typhus and other famine-related diseases. Many who survived suffered from malnutrition. But disaster struck when a vicious potato blight - a fast spreading fungal infection - swept across the country in 1845, wiping out between a third and a half of the crop. Blair's statement draws attention to the question of what caused the famine. It was caused by the Phytophthora infestans microorganism that infested the potato crops in the country. The population in 1845 was around 8.5 million. The famine proved to be a watershed in the demographic history of Ireland. Irish Potato Famine: The Irish Potato Famine officially lasted from 1845 to 1849. English absentee landowners allowed their rent collectors to subdivide and let out smaller and more numerous plots to maximise revenue. Soon there would not be enough people to help in the burial of the dead, while many more were afraid to do so. The Great Famine was caused by a failure of the potato crop, which many people relied on for most of their nutrition. Skibbereen in West Cork, one of the worst affected areas, became the site of m… The crop failures were caused by late blight, a disease that destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant. Omissions? The Irish relied on one or two types of potatoes, which meant that there wasn't much genetic variety in the plants (diversity is a factor that usually prevents an entire crop from being destroyed). The potato, which had become a staple crop in Ireland by the 18th century, was appealing in that it was a hardy, nutritious, and calorie-dense crop and relatively easy to grow in the Irish soil. In 1845 a strain of water mold accidentally arrived from North America and thrived in the unusually cool moist weather that year. His hardline approach was scrapped in 1847 when laws were passed to ensure Irish produce and capital stayed in the country to help with famine relief. The Irish Famine took place on the island of Ireland while under British control, from 1845–49.It was a catastrophic failure in the food supply that led to approximately a million deaths, vast social disruption and to massive emigration. The reason for this is that the censuses recorded deaths by asking how many family members died in the past 10 years, but after the famine whole families had often left Ireland thus leaving many deaths unreported. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. 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