The Great Hunger -An Gorta Mor

The tragic events in Ireland from 1845-50 have left an indelible mark on Irish history and folk memory. The Great hunger cannot be called a famine as the land produced food enough for all. Armed Militia escorted it to the docks for export while the poor died in their thousands. The attitude of the British Government to this catastrophe was at best callous and at worst vindictive. 1 million Irish men, women and children perished of hunger and its associated illnesses. 2 million more left the country to seek a better life elsewhere. What Charles Trevelyan called 'The Judgement of God' was in fact starvation in the name of profit and death in the name of free trade. Ireland, for so long misruled and neglected suffered appallingly and all this at the height of the power and wealth of the British Empire. The lost generations of Irish men, women and children have left their mark on history as a warning to us all. We ARE our brothers keepers!

We remember the lost souls of An Gorta Mor and pray that they rest in peace.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• An Gorta Mor
• famine
• Ireland

[BryantFinlay]

I consider the Irish Famine a genocide.

[tirnaog09]

@BryantFinlay A famine suggests an absence of food. There was no shortage of anything apart from potatoes which fed the poorest people. I consider it a crime against humanity.

[hoops814]

my father in law comes from clonmel, the stories that have been past down are tragic to think that this avoidable tragedy happened overwhelms me.tiocaidh ar la.

[tirnaog09]

@hoops814 How fitting that the descendents of the famine Irish turned up in their tens of thousands to raise money for the East Africa famine appeal at Celtic Park last night.

[joe905x]

heard a story from my grandad when i was young,there was plenty of good potatoes to go around to sort out the famine in ireland but instead of looking after their own people they were sold to the brits.i stand to be corrected on this statement ,but any old person i have asked agrees with me.

[tirnaog09]

@joe905x There was plenty of corn, barley, likestock and other foods in Ireland. The rural poor used it to pay rent to their Landlords who usually lived in England and screwed them for every last penny. They cleared the land during the famine to settle sheep which made more profit for them. There are currently 62 milion people in the UK, a similar 'famine' to Ireland's in modern Britain would see 7.5 million dead and 12 million leaving the country. Thats the scale of the Irish disaster.

[BryantFinlay]

@tirnaog09 A blight did cause the potato crop to fail, but the British didn't do all that much to relieve the starvation. Yes, it is a crime against humanity.