The Story Behind the Great Famine
By Jennie Shurtleff
In March of 1847, the news of the day was the Great Famine in Ireland, and a meeting was held in Woodstock to discuss what the residents in the greater Woodstock area could do to help.
The Famine had begun two years earlier in 1845 with an outbreak of a fungus-like microorganism, called Phytophthora infestans, that began spreading through Ireland causing late blight. In 1845 this pathogen caused the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plants to spoil, and led to a loss of half of the country’s potato crop. As devastating as that was, it was only the start of the tragedy. Over the next seven years, this microorganism destroyed nearly three-fourths of the potato crop annually. Approximately one million people died in Ireland due to either starvation or causes related to malnutrition, and over 1.5 million more emigrated from the country to avoid a similar fate.
Why was the loss of the potato crop so devastating in Ireland? While Ireland at this time was linked with Great Britain (together, they were called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland), the two did not share equal political clout. Through the years, the Catholic inhabitants of Ireland found themselves subject to England’s Penal Laws that stripped them of both civil and religious freedoms as well as most of their holdings, including land. Approximately 80% of the native population of Ireland were Catholics, and consequently many were forced to become tenant farmers on small plots owned by Anglo-Irish or English land owners.
Although potatoes were not indigenous to Ireland, in the couple of hundred years following their introduction to the Emerald Isle, they had become a staple, as potatoes were one of the few crops that could produce enough food, on a small plot of land, to sustain a family. In particular, the rural poor existed almost entirely on potatoes, with perhaps just a little milk or fish as a supplement. Because of the lack of diversity in their available food supply, when the Phytophthora infestans pathogen hit, starvation followed.
Further exacerbating the effects of the Potato Famine, were England’s trade policies. Potatoes were not the only crop raised in Ireland. Some of Ireland’s farms, especially those owned and run by England’s landed gentry, raised oats and grains, but little of this food was kept for the starving masses to eat. The members of the Whig Party in England believed in a laissez-faire economic policy (the government shouldn’t get involved), and therefore they refused to prevent the wealthy landlords who controlled this grain supply from exporting it out of the country – mainly to England.
Since the tenant farmers were not able to pay their rents because of their crop failures, many were evicted from their farms. The British relief that was offered to them was largely that of soup kitchens and “workhouses.” In the country’s 130 workhouses, conditions were poor. The men were expected to work 10 hours a day, often cutting stone, and many in the workhouses ended up dying. The British government also set up a public works program which hired people, including women and children, to build roads. Many of those hired were so malnourished that they were unable to do the work, fainting from hunger or dying while on the job.
There were 130 workhouses in Ireland. They were crowded and dirty, and many of the inhabitants became ill and passed away while living in these establishments.
Many of those who were able to leave Ireland, did so. The United States was often the destination of choice. Between the years 1841 and 1850, nearly fifty percent of the immigrants coming to the United States were from Ireland. Those who had enough money to travel on American passenger ships that went directly to New York were fortunate. Those with fewer resources generally had no recourse except to take a Canadian “timber” ship. The Canadian “timber” ships brought timber from Canada to England. Prior to the Great Famine, typically, after dropping off their load, these timber ships would return empty. However, during the Great Famine, they began to take passengers on the way back as a way of making additional revenue. Unfortunately, these ships were not equipped for passengers, and so many people died on them while en route to North America that they became known as “coffin” ships.
Most of those who made it as far as Canada, still faced a long and arduous journey southward through Maine and northern New England in order to finally reach their destinations. It has been estimated that in the year 1847 that almost 40 percent of those on timber ships perished before reaching the United States.
A medal showing a timber or “coffin ship.” So many people died on these ships that supposedly sharks followed in their wakes.
Over 1.5 million people emigrated from Ireland during the Great Famine.
Given the dire situation and widespread suffering in Ireland, on March 13, 1847, a number of inhabitants from Woodstock and the surrounding area met at Woodstock’s Town Hall to discuss the issue. The outcome of the meeting was a series of resolutions, one of which was the establishment of a committee to solicit donations to help relieve the suffering in Ireland and Scotland. Another included a sharp, thinly-veiled condemnation of England. That resolution stated: “Resolved, That in obeying the claims of humanity in our present feeble attempts to alleviate the sufferings of the starving population of Ireland and Scotland, the claims of truth and justice demand an expression of our utter contempt for the policy of a government that regards the rapacious maws of its breweries and distilleries as paramount to the lives of its subjects.”
The effects of the Irish diaspora of the mid-19th century can still be seen both in Ireland and in the countries to which over a million and a half people immigrated due to the Great Famine.
On Wednesday, January 12, at 2 pm, Professor Mary Kelly, of Franklin Piece College, will be presenting a Zoom program entitled Ireland’s Great Famine in Irish-American History. In this program, she will discuss the legacy of the famine and its role in shaping Irish-American ethnic identity. Her research includes both contemporary press accounts as well as writings of famine survivors to determine the emotional inheritance of this tragic experience.
A potato infected with Phytophthora infestans, the pathogen which caused the Great Famine in mid 19th century Ireland. This pathogen was a water-based mold. It caused the potato plant to develop lesions on its leaves and eventually for the potato plant’s tubers to rot. Image is from the Agricultural Research Service, which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Even before the Great Famine, many living in Ireland lived in abject poverty. A census taken in 1841 indicated that 40 percent of Ireland’s rural population were living in one-room mud or stone cabins, many of which did not have windows or a chimney. The smoke from any fire used for heating or cooking would be vented through the door or through the thatch roof.