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The Great Famine in Ireland. During the 1100s, Ireland was a united country Subsequently it was conquered by England in the 1200s The Irish Catholics who stayed behind were given the less fertile land
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During the 1100s, Ireland was a united country Subsequently it was conquered by England in the 1200s The Irish Catholics who stayed behind were given the less fertile land English landlords brought in Protestant Scottish and English settlers into the northern parts of Ireland and pushed out the local Catholic farmers Before the Famine
Before 12th century N.I. & Republic of Ireland = IRELAND In the 12th century Ireland conquered and colonised by England 12TH CENTURY
In the 1500s, Ireland was conquered by King Henry VIII and England. He split England away from the Catholic Church. Why are these people fighting?
King Henry took land in Northern Ireland from Catholic nobles and gave it to his English and Scot friends. People are still mad about this. Why are these people fighting? England Northern Ireland
The English in Ireland • The English have been present in Ireland since the time of the Norman Invasion. • The Reformation brought change that would effect both England and Ireland. • Henry VIII of England broke all ties with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530’s and declared himself the head of the Church of England. • The Irish people living under English rule, remained Catholic and continued to recognized the Pope as their spiritual leader. • This caused a division between English Protestants and Irish Catholics. • The Irish allied themselves with Catholic Spain and fought for their independence. • The Irish and their Spanish allies were defeated by the English at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. • The English government seized lands and Irishmen were forced to work for their new English landlords and made to rent plots of land they once owned.
Under James I: Ulster Plantations • Before plantation Ulster was the most Irish and most Catholic province of Ireland. During the Nine Years’ War (1594-1603), a revolt led by Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone became a nationwide threat to English rule. • After O’Neill’s defeat, the English Crown promoted the rights of Irish freeholders to undermine the power of the great lords. • In 1607 O’Neill was called to London but instead, fearing imprisonment, he fled to continental Europe with most of the aristocracy of Ulster. • After the “Flight of the Earls”, the Crown abandoned the freeholders and went for a full-scale plantation by British Protestants. • 1609, six years after the accession of James VI. of Scotland to the throne of England as James I a scheme was matured for planting Ulster with Scotch and English, and the following year the settlement began. • The actual settlers were mostly Scotch, and the Ulster plantation took the character of a Scotch occupation of the North of Ireland
In August 1649, Cromwell and 12 000 soldiers arrived at Ireland For the next ten years, a third of the Irish population was either killed by the soldiers or died of starvation Catholic boys and girls were shipped to Barbados and sold as slaves Catholic land was given to Protestants, which led to much strife, even to this very day, for the Protestants and Catholics in Ireland still break out into murderous riots, and cannot even walk around in the other’s neighborhoods Cromwell and Ireland
Cromwell and Ireland • In 1649 Cromwellcame to Ireland, striking first at Drogheda. • Drogheda is seen in Irish nationalist legend as anti-Irish racism, but the garrison there was commanded by an English Catholic and largely under English officers, Royalists. • Inflamed by an initial setback, Cromwell showed little mercy to the soldiers and priests, killing 2000 of them and having more shipped to Barbados. • Cromwell may have believed he was taking revenge for 1641, although Drogheda had not been involved – it was within the English Pale.
Ireland 1649 • Government policy was to crush all Catholics. • Cromwell marched south. • Some surrendering garrisons were treated well, but Wexford suffered 2000 casualties including 200 women and children in the marketplace. • Cromwell dispossessed landowning Irish Catholics and shared their land amongst his soldiers and financiers. • The transportation of those landowners to a barren province was known as ‘the curse of Cromwell’. • Those left behind, tenants and labourers, still felt humiliated.
Ireland August 1649 • Such religious zeal was involved that the Catholic church was swept aside. • All Catholic estates were confiscated and their owners relocated, if they could prove they had not rebelled. • Protestant clergymen and schoolmasters were sent over, and there were strenuous efforts to get the Irish into Protestant churches, although language was a barrier. • However, many Protestant churchmen already in Ireland were reluctant to work within Cromwell’s framework. Cromwell’s regime did not last long, and more moderate people (including his son Henry) came to the fore.
Cromwell Primary Source on Ireland 'In the heat of action, I forbade them to spare any that were in arms in the town, and, I think, that night they put to the sword about 2,000 men. Divers of the officers and soldiers being fled over the Bridge into the other part of the Town, where about one hundred of them possessed St Peter's steeple [and two other Towers]... I ordered the steeple of St Peter's to be fired where one of them was heard to say in the midst of the flames: 'God damn me, God confound me: I burn. I burn’ .... The next day, the other two Towers were summonsed…. When they submitted, their officers were knocked on the head, and every tenth man of the soldiers killed, and the others shipped [as slaves] to the Barbadoes... The last Lord's Day before the storm, the Protestants were thrust out of the great church called St Peter's and they had a public Mass there; and in this very place near one thousand Catholics were put to the sword, fleeing thither for safety. I believe all the friars were knocked promiscuously on the head but two; the one of which was Fr Peter Taaff... whom the soldiers took and made an end of; the other was taken in the round tower, under the repute of lieutenant, and when he understood that the officers in the Tower had no quarter, he confessed he was a friar; but that did not save him.’
Irish Protestant Perspective of Oliver Cromwell Mural in Belfast
Northern Ireland became predominantly Protestant King James II (Catholic) came to the throne and tried to defeat the Protestants He failed and was defeated by King William of Orange in the Battle of Boyne in 1690 King James II and Ireland
King James II of England, a Catholic Forced to flee to north of Ireland. Why? Because he failed to force Catholicism on the Protestants in England There, he tried to defeat the locals New King of England, William of Orange PROTESTANT arrived in north of Ireland and defeated King James Battle of Boyne King William remains a hero to Protestants to this day 1690 (17th CENTURY)
Penal Laws were implemented against the Catholics by the Protestants to ensure that they had complete control of Ireland No Catholic can buy land No Catholic shall be allowed to vote No Catholic can join the army No Catholic may receive higher education William and Mary and Ireland
Penal Laws After the Treaty of Limerick (1691), the Irish Parliament, filled with Protestant landowners and controlled from England, enacted a penal code that secured and enlarged the landlords' holdings and degraded and impoverished the Irish Catholics. *As a result of these harsh laws: • Catholics could neither teach their children nor send them abroad; • persons of property could not enter into mixed marriages; • Catholic property was inherited equally among the sons unless one was a Protestant, in which case he received all; • a Catholic could not inherit property if there was any Protestant heir; • a Catholic could not possess arms or a horse worth more than £5 ; • Catholics could not hold leases for more than 31 years, • and they could not make a profit greater than a third of their rent. • The hierarchy of the Catholic Church was banished or suppressed, • and Catholics could not hold seats in the Irish Parliament (1692), hold public office, vote (1727), or practice law. • Cases against Catholics were tried without juries, and bounties were given to informers against them.
Penal Laws • The Irish countryside, with its green pastures and wonderful farmland, had been turned into English plantations.Land-owning Irishmen who worked for themselves became English tenants overnight. • Worse, “Penal Laws" governing the conduct of Irish Catholics were enacted. Over the years, those restrictive laws diminished the ability of the Irish people to flexibly manage their own affairs. Laws like these set in motion a disaster-in-the-making. • The Irish Catholic was forbidden the exercise of his religion.He was forbidden to receive an education.He was forbidden to enter a profession.He was forbidden to hold public office.He was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.He was forbidden to live in a corporate town or within five miles thereof.He was forbidden to own a horse of greater value than five pounds.He was forbidden to purchase land.He was forbidden to vote.He was forbidden to keep any arms for his protection.He was forbidden to hold a life annuity.He could not be a guardian to a child.He could not attend Catholic worship.He could not himself educate his child.
Penal Laws *Under these restrictions many able Irishmen left the country, and regard for the law declined; even Protestants assisted their Catholic friends in evasion. *In the latter half of the 18th cent., with the decline of religious fervor in England and the need for Irish aid in foreign wars, there was a general mitigation of the treatment of Catholics in Ireland, and the long process of Catholic Emancipation began.
Lord Lieutenant (Viceroy). Administered Ireland – often a member of the aristocracy and a cabinet member. Were usually always English – known as the ‘Castle’. Ministers Responsible for pushing government legislation through the Irish Parliament. Chief Secretary Until 1782 could only pass laws approved by the English. Thereafter, could introduce their own laws. Irish Parliament Lesson 1
Ireland During the 1800’s • Irish-Catholics struggled to earn more rights and had some success, however living conditions improved little for the Irish. • Most Irish people lived in poverty and two-thirds of the Irish were dependent upon agriculture as a source of income. • Most of the land in Ireland was owned by English landlords. • These landlords planted crops to be harvested and sold in England. • Corn, for example, was grown in Ireland and exported to England. • So much of the harvest was exported that very little was left to be consumed by the Irish. • The grain available for sale in Ireland was often too expense for the Irish farmer to purchase.
For years, Catholic Irish fought against Protestant Scottish and English settlers without success 1800 : Ireland became part of UK Hostilities between Catholics and Protestants did not end Late 1800s : some local Irish demanded HOME RULE(like our concept of self-government) Fighting often broke out 19th CENTURY
Irish society was dominated by the wealthy English landowners and most Irish were at the bottom of the social pyramid. Irish farmers could rent land from English landlords by working the landlords farm in exchange for a plot of land to work for himself. • There were also large numbers of farmers that traveled from farm to farm looking for work. • However, “in 1835, an inquiry found that over two million people were without employment of any kind.”(8) • Poor farmers who could not afford to rent large farms could rent small plots to grow enough food to feed their families. • The crop of choice was the potato. • The potato was introduced to Ireland in 1590 and could grow in poor conditions. • Potato crops required very little care which was significant because poor farmers had to spend most of their time working for their landlords.
Population Growth • At the beginning of the 1800s, Ireland had a population of over 8 million people, and was one of the most densely populated regions. • Between 1799 and 1841, it had increased by 172%. • This was due to: • A healthy diet of potato plus milk • Early marriages • High birth rate • High infant survival rate
Pressures on Land • In County Mayo, there were 475 people for every square mile of farmland. • 80% of the Irish people lived in the countryside and worked the land • Land did not belong to them; it belonged to 20,000 English landlords. • Each landlord had 1000 acres of land that was divided into farms and rented out to the Irish Catholic tenant farmers • If you did not pay your rent, you would be evicted
Subdivisions of Land • Sub-division created many small farms in Ireland as this practice continued with each generation • In 1845, almost 200,000 farming families lived on less than 5 acres of land per family. • In 1845, 135,000 farming families lived on less than 1 acre of land. • Whiles the farms got smaller, their rents increased by 100%.
Importance of the Potato • Due to the limited amount of land per family, the potato was relied heavily upon. • On one acre of land, you could produce 8 ¾ tons of potatoes a year. • It would take almost four acres of land to produce the equivalent in wheat. • The potato could grow on most types of land, even bogland. • Crop rotation was not necessary • The potato was also nutritious and had many uses.
The Potato Large estates were owned by the British and run by agents, and these were under pressure to maximize income from rents for the benefit of absentee landlords. Many agents were corrupt; all were committed to the greatest possible exploitation of the estates and their tenants. One of the consequences was that Irish agriculture adoptedthe potato as the staple food-crop of the peasantry, and economic forces acted to bring about what would provea disastrous dependency ona very few varieties.
The Potato To Irish, potato-growing, land renters, the potato was everything. It was both food and cash. Part of the crop was sold to pay the rent and buy what the family needed. The rest of the crop fed the family. There was very little, if any, crop diversity. An Irish potato crop failure in 1845 would not merely harm a family’s financial well-being. It would jeopardize that family’s ability to provide for basic physical needs. And if the reason for the failure was a potato blight that affected the whole country, the negative impact could have national proportions. That’s just what happened to the Irish people between the years of 1845-1849.
Importance of the Potato • The potato when supplemented with milk provided most of the calories and vitamins needed for a healthy life. • Poverty may have been a problem in Ireland, but the children grew healthy and strong, and fatal illnesses were rare. • Per 10 pounds of potatoes: • 3000 calories • 45 grams of protein • 1.92 milligrams of calcium • 21.34 milligrams of iron • 1,600 milligrams of vitamin A • 444-1,218 milligrams of vitamin C
The Potato In 1845, the fungus Phytophthora infestans arrived accidentally from North America. A slight climate variation brought the warm, wet weather in which the blight thrived. Much of the potato crop rotted in the fields. Because potatoes could not be stored longer than 12 months, there was no surplus to fall back on. All those who relied on potatoes had to find something else to eat.
The Blight • Winds from southern England carried the fungus to the countryside around Dublin. • The blight spread throughout the fields as fungal spores settled on the leaves of healthy potato plants, multiplied and were carried in the millions by cool breezes to surrounding plants. • Under ideal moist conditions, a single infected potato plant could infect thousands more in just a few days. • The attacked plants fermented while providing the nourishment the fungus needed to live, emitting a nauseous stench as they blackened and withered in front of the disbelieving eyes of Irish peasants. • There had been crop failures in the past due to weather and other diseases, but this strange new failure was unlike anything ever seen. • Potatoes dug out of the ground at first looked edible, but shriveled and rotted within days. • The potatoes had been attacked by the same fungus that had destroyed the plant leaves above ground.
THE LUMPER IS A WHITE POTATO THAT WAS COMMONLY GROWN IN IRELAND BECAUSE IT PRODUCED A LARGE CROP AND GREW ON POOR SOIL. HOWEVER , IT WAS ALSO PRONE TO DISEASE- THE BLIGHT. IT ARRIVED, IN 1845, FROM EUROPE AND QUICKLY SPREAD. THE POTATO AND THE BLIGHT
Potato Fungus The next spring, farmers planted potatoes again. The potatoes seemed sound, but some harbored dormant strains of the fungus. When it rained, the blight began again. Within weeks the entire crop failed.
THE DISEASE • THE FUNGUS HIT THE POTATOES FIRST, BEFORE SHOWING BLOTCHES ON THE LEAVES AND STEMS. EVEN POTATOES THAT SEEMED FINE WHEN DUG UP, ROTTED LATER.
Views on the Blight • By October 1845, news of the blight had reached London. British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, quickly established a Scientific Commission to examine the problem. • After briefly studying the situation, the Commission issued a gloomy report that over half of Ireland's potato crop might perish due to 'wet rot.' • Meanwhile, the people of Ireland formulated their own unscientific theories on the cause of the blight. • Perhaps, it was thought, static electricity in the air resulting from the newly arrived locomotive trains caused it. • Others reasoned that 'mortiferous vapors' from volcanoes emanating from the center of the earth might have done it. • Some Catholics viewed the crisis in religious terms as Divine punishment for the "sins of the people" while others saw it as Judgment against abusive landlords and middlemen.
Views on the Blight • In England, religious-minded social reformers viewed the blight as a heaven-sent 'blessing' that would finally provide an opportunity to transform Ireland, ending the cycle of poverty resulting from the people's mistaken dependence on the potato.
The Great Hunger 1845-1849 Famine Hits Ireland
