The Great Irish Famine 1845-1852 By Sarah Kane, Juliette Conlan-Hamill, Issy McMorrow, Yumo Duigan, Ava Meijer

Before the Famine Before the Famine 7 out of 8 people lived in the countryside and depended on potatoes. Ireland was very religious and was ruled by England. Kids got little or no education and boys were sent to work on farms.

Cause of the Famine The great Famine was caused by the potatoes getting a disease called Blight. It was common in tomatoes, apples and potatoes. It would cause the leaves to get spots and the potato to rot in the ground and go black and mushy. Fortunately Blight is now extinct but it did cause disease and many deaths during the Famine years.

Disease There were many fatal diseases during the Famine such as Cholera, Typhus, Scurvy, Relapsing fever, Dysentery and much more.

Coffin Ships During the Famine around a million people were expelled from their homes. Coffin ships were used to ship Irish emigrants to countries such as England, America and Canada. There were two tickets on board, cabin passengers paid £5-£8 and Steerage passengers paid £3-£4. It was packed inside and many people died of malnourishment and disease. This is why they got their name as coffin ships.

Dunbrody Famine ship The Dunbrody ship was built in 1845 and was used as a Coffin ship and had carried thousands of passengers on board during the Famine.It was also used as a cargo ship till 1875.Now it is so well know because it was recreated in 2001 and you can go on board and experience what it was like to be one of its passengers.

Land During the Famine Land Lords could evacuate everyone on their land whenever they wanted. Normally the Land Lords would move out and rent out their land to farmers. The rent was so high that many people were forced to go to the work houses.

Work houses Work houses were places where people went for jobs and food, starting in the early 1840s and ending long after the Famine in the 1920s. The food was poor quality and it was known as the death zone because many people died of disease.

England’s contribution The only contribution England made to Ireland was in 1846 when they shipped corn to Ireland. They also did not help by taking many of the potatoes.

After the Famine After the Famine only 5% of Ireland still spoke Irish. Catholicism became even stronger and the Irish became less dependent on potatoes.

Famine today While the Irish Famine happened over 150 years ago, it is hard to believe that almost 13% of the world population is in famine today. Right now there is a Famine in South Sudan due to drought and war. We think we could help by donating money to charities such as Goal or The Red Cross and being mindful of the food we consume and waste.