| In 1841, the
population of Ireland was over 8 million people. Over two thirds of these
people were dependent on agriculture for a livelihood., but the condition
of the other third of the population wasn't anything to be envious of!
The survival of the vast impoverished population was dependent on the reoccurring
fruitfulness of the potato and on that alone! The potato, unlike grain,
is extremely perishable and can't be stored.
The disaster,
when it came, was much more sudden and complete than anyone could have
imagined. There was a long and wet spell in July of 1845 of which it was
not apparent that there was any damage done to the crops, then in August,
there came word that southern England had a strange disease that was attacking
the potato crops there. It was potato blight. The crops along the eastern
coast of the United States was affected by the potato blight in 1842. In
September of 1845, the blight was observed in Waterford and Wexford and
then spread rapidly from there. The situation in Ireland had reached it's
worst by February of 1847. Great gales of wind blew and the country was
covered by thick, drifting snow. To try and escape starvation, people crowded
into the surrounding countryside towns to try and escape the hunger.
A fever epidemic
spread like wildfire throughout Ireland. It was called "famine fever' but,
it was actually 2 different diseases; typhus and relapsing fever. Dysentery,
dropsy and scurvy caused by malnutrition spread everywhere.
People everywhere
were seized by panic to get out of Ireland as soon as humanly possible.
Emigration was limited to spring and summer because of the freezing weather
conditions
In July and August
of 1846, the great emigration from Ireland was well under way. Six thousand
emigrants had sailed for Liverpool the previous January, to escape the
terrible blight that was ravaging their homeland. There were notorious
"coffin ships"; old and crowded, whose owners only wanted to profit from
the poor escaping mass of human beings that would pay almost any amount
to book passage.. by June of 1847, a high proportion of emigrants had sailed
to North America. More than 100,000 sailed to Canada in 1847 (the most
economical way to the united states at that time, was using this indirect
route) .
1847, was called
the "Black 47" and was by no means, the end of the famine. Toward the end
of 1847, there was a return of confidence because the blight had loosened
it's grip and wasn't as bad as it had been in the previous spring. By 1851,
the population of Ireland, had gone from a population of 6 ½ million
persons to 4 million! |
