The Irish Famine 1845-1849

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The Irish Famine 1845-1849

“Is ar scáth a chiéle a maireann na daoine”

“It is with each other’s protection that the people live”

From the Fifteenth through to the Nineteenth centuries English

Monarchies and Governments had consistently enacted laws which it

seems were designed to oppress the Irish and suppress and destroy

Irish Trade and manufacturing. In the Penal laws of 1695 which aimed

to destroy Catholicism, Catholics were forbidden from practicing their

religion, receiving education, entering a profession, or purchasing or

leasing land; since Catholics formed eighty percent of the Irish

population, this effectively deprived the Irish of any part in civil

life in their own country.

In the eighteenth century the Irish condition had improved: The Irish

merchant marine had been revived and ports improved, and the glass,

linen, and clothing industries developed. Agriculture had also been

improved and in 1782 the Irish Constitution was formed. But this

changed when William Pitt became British Prime Minister. He imposed a

“free trade policy”, which destroyed Ireland’s new industries,

particularly linens, by eliminating independent Irish shipping. A

condition of “Free trade” was that Ireland should not trade with any

country where trading would clash with the interests of the East India

Company; England’s mightiest corporation, who were heavily involved

particularly in the lucrative trade with India. This was typical of

the British belief in protectionist economics. The role of parliament

was to protect the interests of the powerful few who effectively pay

rolled the government by their industry and profits against the pligh...

... middle of paper ...

...n that after nearly seven hundred years of attempted

domination, the British oppression of the Irish had deprived them of

all but the bare necessities of survival, and caused such destitution

that when the potato famine struck, the poor could not avoid the worst

privations, given the social and political conditions controlling

their lives. The British government’s ineffectual attempts at

relieving the situation played a major role in worsening the

situation; they allowed prejudice and State and individual

self-interest, economic and religious dogma to subjugate even the

least consideration for humanity. Ultimately British politicians bear

considerable blame because they were not prepared to allocate what was

needed to head off mass starvation, and they as the parent government

did nothing to protect its subject people.

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