Sub division of land-Farmers in the 19th
century may have had up to 20 acres of
land. He would divide this land when his
sons got married. This cycle kept going on
as the son had sons of their own they
would divide the land until there was only
an acre of land left for each family. This
obviously then didn't provide enough food
for each family
Large Population-In the first half of the 19th century population
rose so quickly that in 1841 there were 8,175,000 people living in
Ireland when in 1800 there was only 5,000,000
Potato Blight-Famines were common in Ireland
but had a really bad one between 1740-1741.But
in 1845 a new fungal disease struck the Irish
potato crops(Phystophthora infestans)The first
sign of this were the leaves of the plant go
black and die
Chronology of the famine
1845-The potato
blight hits Ireland
and 1/3 of all
potato crops are
affected
1846-Supples were
exhausted but the Prime
Minister bought £100,000
worth of Indian Maize and
had it brought to Ireland.
The people disliked it but
had to eat it or starve
1847-The Potato crop gave
some potatoes.It was
smaller though. However
the blight struck again the
following year
1848-The blight continues
1850-The blight is over at last
1849-Blight still continues
Consequences of the
famine
Popualtion Decline
1,000,000 dead
1,000,000 emigrated
total loss 2,000,000
Consolidation of land
Instead of farms
getting smaller then
grew larger. Landlords
were in debt after
the famine so many
landlords were
anxious to sell off
land. Tenants stopped
sub-dividing land.
Change in marriage
patterns Only one son
inherited land but he had to
wait for his father to die
first. Many people couldn't
afford to get married at a
young age.. The catholic
church became stricter
about courting. Large decline
in birth rate
Political Consequences
Increased Republican feeling.
The Irish diaspora increased
Republicanism in areas such
as the USA where high
amount of Irish lived
Interpretaions
What the
government
did well
Soup
Kitchen
Private
Charity
What the government
didn't do well
Workhouses Public
Works