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Environmental Science Famine Ireland: The land that have never known freedom The conflict between Ireland and England is, probably, one of the most long-drawn conflicts in the worlds history at least from the Irish standpoint. They refer its beginning to 12 th century, the time of the first military expeditions of Englishmen to the Emerald Island. Since that time the seeds of mutual hostility became to grow in the hearts of two people. Actually, Ireland was the first British colony.
After the failure of one of the rebellions during the epoque of Queen Elizabeth I the lands of the Northern-Eastern counties were proclaimed the property of the British Crown and were sold to the Scottish colonists. So called the Ulster plantation was created. Scotch Protestants settled there. The lands became their property and native landowners were driven away without any mercy.
Under Oliver Cromwell Ireland was enthralled once and for all. Great Britain passed the law under which the Irish people were deprived of their rights for the land. The peasants were deprived of their territories and were not permitted either to buy or to rent the land over a long period of time. The Irish were also not allowed to carry out foreign-economic activity independently. In spite of ports very handy for trade with European countries, direct barter with foreign countries (in particular, export of the Irish wool and wool products to the continent) was prohibited as well. Literally speaking, we can claim without any gross overestimate that Englishmen started to treat other people living in their colonies as the third-rate living creatures because of their attitude to the Irish colonists.
The Englishmen treated them as creatures in relation to which traditional moral standards loose their force. Any demonstration of national self-conscience was abruptly suppressed. The inhabitants of the island were prohibited to speak native language and to teach the language their children. The Irishman wasnt allowed to become doctor, lawyer, or official.
He could only become the temporary farmer of plot or a craftsman. In 1835, an inquiry found that over two million people were without regular employment of any kind (Litton, 10) We keep the Irish in darkness and ignorance. Can it be wondered that the Irish are so superstitious? We doom them to extreme poverty. Can it be wondered then that the Irish are inclined to rebellions and armed disorders?
We bound up the Irish with slave ropes and deprive them of access to business undertakings. Can it be wondered then that the Irish are so lazy and idle? Thomas Campbell, Philosophical explorations of the South of Ireland (1778) The London policy lead to the fact that territory of Ireland became de-facto divided into two parts according to economic and religious attributes. The Catholic population was mainly located at the southern territories of Ireland (so-called the Eyre Peninsula). The economy was held up by the agriculture. The Ulster gave the opposite picture: the support of metropolis turned it into highly industrialized region.
The province saw the blossom of weaving, shipbuilding, metallurgy, and mining. The major part of population consisted of Protestants. The Catholic majority of Ireland constantly strived for independence. Armed rebellions chaotically took place. However, all attempts to get rid of the English power were drown in blood. On the contrary, the Protestants always supported Great Britain policy and with weapons in their arms fought against the Catholics.
Potato in the Irish cuisine Great changes in the Irish cuisine took place after the New World discovery. New food products such as potato were introduced to the Irishmen. Potato is one of the four main food products in food allowance of different people. It continues the list of such important products as rice, wheat, and corn.
However, potato as the most popular food product started its history during the three last centuries. The Spaniards brought potato to Europe in 1570. In 1573 potato was basically sold in the market as a popular food product. Potato reached the British Islands only in 1590 ies and primarily was used as a decorative plant. The Irish were the first nation who saw its food value.
In 1663 potato was considered the main food product in the Irish cuisine. It was an extremely cheap product and mainly due tot his fact it was quite popular both for the rich and the poor. Oats and potatoes were mainly the only food present at the dinner of the poor English, Irish and Scottish people. Poor families rented the lands for the period of time enough to grow potatoes. They paid the rent for the land from potato crop. The remained part of the crop was basically enough to feed the family during winter time.
During the XVI-XVII centuries population of Ireland became to increase up-tempo. The increase was mainly because of poor Irish people. The food allowance consisted of potatoes, oats and milk allowed to feed even very poor Irish families because of its high nutrition value. Due to political and economic situation in the country the cost for bred grains and crop plants such as oats and wheat increased in several times.
It caused high dependence of the poor Irish families on potatoes as the main food product. Families not only eat potatoes but fed the cattle. No wonder the Irish families started to feel lack in potato crop. Many families started to loose their only welfare consisted of cattle. Due to this reason, the prices for milk and all other diary products were also very high.
The Irishmen lived under trying conditions. Can the Great Britain be blamed for the fact that the Irish people prefer to eat potatoes, not bread? Can the Great Britain be blamed for the fact that the Irish people are able to survive in conditions that even Irish pigs would die? The Irish are get used to abject poverty to such extent that they certainly have poverty insensibility. The Times 08. 12. 1843 In the middle of XIX century the country was affected by the Great Famine. The potato was the main vegetable crop for the Irish people.
The Irish, who had large families, treated potato as the main daily product. Neither barley nor oats were able to feed the peasants. The population of Ireland was so dependent on potato crops that when in 1845 and 1846 the whole potato crop was lost due to late blight disease of potato. The actual cause of (potato crop) failure was phytophthora infest ans - potato blight.
The spores of the blight were carried by wind, rain and insects and came to Ireland from Britain and the European continent. A fungus affected the potato plants, producing black spots and a white mould on the leaves, soon rotting the potato into a pulp. (Ranelagh 111) The government supported the laissez-faire (let it be) economic theory. The main slogan was: it isnt a job of government to interfere into all those troubles. However, some attempts to liquidate the consequences of fungus affected the potato plants were undertaken. For example, during the summer of 1847, many soup kitchens were organized by the government and Quakers. Those soup kitchens fed over three million people.
The British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel sent a Scientific Commission to examine the facts concerning the great Famine. The Scientific Commission reported that 50 % of the crop was lost due to some disease. Private Relief Efforts The private relief efforts were also undertaken. The Quakers who belonged to so-called the Society of Friends donated food and clothes to starving Irishmen.
According to various historical sources, during 1846 - 1847 the Quakers gave approx. 200 thousand BP to support the Irish families. The British Relief Association (1847) also helped to the dying and raised approximately 470, 000 BP. The Consequences of the Great Famine Due to the Great Famine more than one million of people died and merely one million of the Irish migrated mainly to the United States of America. The census commissioners calculated that, at the normal rate of increase, the total should have been 9, 018, 799 so the loss of at least 2. 5 million persons had taken place (Woodham-Smith). During the course of Famine population of Ireland declined drastically. In 1841 the total population of Ireland was calculated as 8, 175, 124.
By 1851, the population of Ireland was less than 6, 552, 385 (although this is the official census, the historical sources claim that the census gives a total smaller or higher than the population in fact was due to officers incorrect calculations). At the same time, although the whole villages died from hunger, export of corn and cattle to England didnt stop: Food prices in Ireland were beginning to rise, and potato prices had doubled by December, 1845. Meanwhile, the Irish grain crop was being exported to Britain (O Grade Cormac 68). What was the reason for export when the country was dying from Famine? The answer was evident. The English land owners demanded their rent.
The flow of refugees over the ocean reached 250. 000 people per year. The historians claim that between 1845 and 1855 approximately 750, 000 people had emigrated to Great Britain and another 2, 000, 000 people emigrated to Australia and the United States of America. Emigration soared from 75, 000 in 1845 to 250, 000 in 1851. This chaotic, panic-stricken and unregulated exodus was the largest single population movement of the nineteenth century (Ranelagh 40).
In such a way, the Ireland became the only country in Europe, where population declined. Bibliography: Litton, Helen, The Irish Famine; An Illustrated History Wolfhound Press Ltd. , Dublin, Ireland, 1994. O Grade Cormac, Ireland before and After the Famine: explorations in economic history 1800 - 1925, Manchester 1989, 2 d edition. Ranelagh, John O'Being, A Short History of Ireland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, Second edition, 1994. First printing, 1983.
Woodham-Smith, Cecil, 7 he Great Hunger; Ireland 1845 - 1849 Penguin Books, London, England, 1991. First ed. 1962
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