Irish: People who are from Ireland or that have ancestors from Ireland. Potato: an edible tuber like root. Famine: an extreme hunger, starvation, or scarcity of food. The Irish Potato Famine: an event that took place in 1845-1850 where millions of Irish people died from disease, hunger, and at worse cases grief. This event left a scar in the face of the world. Although, now we can look at that mark and learn from it, so even though it devastated many, killed many, and agonized many there were still great lessons that were taught.
Potatoes were easy to plant and inexpensive so those who could not
afford meat or other foods could grow these. People used to depend on
agriculture as a source of income, until they were destroyed. If the
Irish used irrigation systems, fertilizers, and checked their soil conditions,
the potatoes would not have been destroyed by a fungus called phytophthora
infestans.
This fungus turned the potatoes into possibly poisonous black mush.
Long after the blight was over, scientists found out that copper sulfate
mixed with lime would have killed the disease.
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| Left:a healthy potato that can be found at a grocery store; Right:a potato that people would have seen in Ireland during the Famine
http://www.dochara.com/the-irish/food-history/the-irish-potato-famine-1846-1850/
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If they had nothing to eat, could they stay? No. At least half a million Irish fled to the east coast of the United States in the first year; most of them stayed in Boston. The Bostonians were rude to them and laughed when one passed. They needed food and a home; that’s why they came. There were a limited amount of jobs available, and many shops had signs that said, “No Irish Need Apply” on the door. Irish men took poor jobs that didn’t require any skill, and even then the Irish stayed in alleys, backyards, gardens, or by the shore in little shacks. Needless to say Boston was only a slight improvement from Ireland.
The fact that they were discriminated against was not their only problem. At least sixty percent of the children born during the time of the blight did not live to be six years old. In addition to that, most of their families did not live six years later. Most of them died of starvation and the filthiness of their environment. Their environments uncleanliness caused an infectious disease called cholera, which was one of the main causes of the decrease in population during this period in history.
“I saw the dying, the living, and the dead, lying indiscriminately upon the same floor,” said James Mahoney -- an artist that lived in Ireland during the time period. As he walked through the streets of Clonakilty, Ireland, people surrounded coaches that came by and begged for food. He saw a gaunt looking woman holding her dead baby in her arms as she waited to buy a coffin. It was devastating to see families starving, it was devastating to see children crying, it was devastating to see part of the world in such a dark place.
After all the horror that struck Ireland and America during 1845 to 1850, they recovered. As you can see we are no longer in the the terrible state we were in more than a century ago. Britain contributed to the healing by creating soup kitchens to provide food, and employment for those who needed jobs and money. Although, the Great Hunger is still seen as one of the most dreadful and disastrous time in history.
All in all there was a lot learned from this dreadful experience. One being that relying on one substance, such as the potato, to keep millions of people alive. Another lesson learned is that life isn’t always perfect, so when things go wrong you need to find a way to get back. Lastly, the moral of the entire event is that no matter how awful things may seem, there is always hope; there is alway a treasure beneath the dirt and soil.
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