The Great Famine of 1845 was one of the darkest times in the history of Ireland - a time plagued by mass starvation, mass exodus and mass deaths throughout the country. Nearly 1 million people lost their lives in the Great Famine, and the famine itself caused another 1 million people to leave the country, leading to about one-quarter of Ireland's population to disappear1. Apart from the deaths, the Great Famine changed the social and political atmosphere of Ireland irrevocably, and its impact is felt even today. Christine Kinealy states that "the famine killed everything" - not only did it kill people, it killed a way of life and a society that would be forever changed2.
The famine itself stemmed from a disease known only as potato blight, which demolished the food supplies of the country. Nearly a third of Ireland's population ate nothing but potatoes; they were easy to grow there, and they had become one of the major staples of the Irish diet. This created a tremendous potato dependency which, when the potato disease struck, left the Irish people without a means to survive. Nearly half the entire potato crop of Ireland was eliminated, leaving millions to starve.3
There were many other factors in Irish society at the time that contributed to the extent to which the Great Famine affected the Irish population. Even before the potato famine, Ireland was on the verge of starvation, and the Irish leadership was not keeping up with housing conditions and infrastructure to give work and food to the greatly increasing population of Ireland. The British government had already changed the landscape of Ireland by tilling it so completely, turning it into grazing land for cows. Because there was no room for larger farms for the Irish, they had fallen into growing the potato, paving the way for said dependency. The landlord system was also a significant factor in exacerbating the blight - the "middleman system" provided agents who would exploit tenants for the sake of the landlord's profits, further disenfranchising the Irish and leaving them with fewer options.
The British attempted to help the Irish in their struggles, but it can be argued that they did not do as much as they should have. For example, when the famine was first discovered, the British were hesitant to provide assistance, since they surmised that Ireland had gone through famines in the past and knew how to handle them. Ever after it was clear that this was no ordinary famine, Sir Robert Peel made a mistake in his attempts to bring corn into the Irish diet. Without sufficient mills to create flour from the corn, it was very difficult to eat, and the Irish were essentially not able to eat the corn at all4.
The view of Ireland by the government prevented the appropriate measures to be taken. The Irish were just not worth the trouble of helping them, and so the onus was on them to help themselves, according to Westminster officials5. Since they got themselves into trouble, the free market view was that they deserved to die. With this in mind, the famine could possibly be considered a type of genocide against the Irish people on the part of the British. By actively not doing enough about these conditions, they were taking advantage of the potato famine to gain further control over Ireland. On a societal level, the British thought of the Irish as "lesser than" them, and as a result found this famine a fine excuse to get rid of them6. The landlord system was unforgiving, and kicked many Irish out of their homes instead of providing them with sufficient homes7.
In conclusion, the Great Famine of 1845 was a turning point for the country of Ireland, in terms of the way its people lived and how they governed themselves, as well as the overall population of the island itself. The relationship between Britain and Ireland soured further as a result of the potato famine, as Britain seemingly stood idly by with sufficient food in order to see the Irish population dwindle. In a very real sense, "the famine killed everything" - people, governments, and hope. Ireland after the Great Famine was a much different country than it was before - still impoverished, but much less forgiving of England.
References
Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005.
Maria Cosgrave, Rena Lohan & Tom Quinlan. Sources in the National Archives for researching
the Great Famine. Retrieved from
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/famine/famine.html.
Christine Kinealy. The Great Irish Famine. London: Palgrave Press, 2002.
Joseph R. O'Neill. The Irish Potato Famine. ABDO, 2009.
