Cate LlewellynMrs. NiederoestEnglish Period 6

14 December 2011

Irish Famine

Period of:• Disease • Mass starvation• Immigration

Great Irish Famine

• Causes:• Bight on potatoes• Unsuccessful crop growing for potato farmers

Causes of the Famine

• Irish relied solely on potatoes for:• Food• Income to pay for clothes, housing

• Potato farming was their life

Why did this effect the Irish people?

• Caused families to lose their:• Jobs- they potato farmed for a job• Homes- could not pay rent• Food- main food was potatoes• Money- from farming

• Caused more than 1,500,000 deaths • Great loss of population in Ireland

Effects of The Famine

• Sometimes referred to as Ireland’s Holocaust• In America, we call it the Irish Potato Famine, or

the Great Irish Famine.• Irish people sometimes call it the “Great Hunger”

Alternate Names

• Took place from 1845 to 1852 • During Victorian Era• In Ireland

Setting

• Government stepped in for a short period of time

• Then, they cut the relief works• The Quakers, or Society of Friends, tried to

fill the gap• Caused the government to reinstate the relief

works• Still wasn’t enough

Relief

• There are now many memorials to famine victims

• Will never be forgotten• Affected many of our Irish ancestors

Memorials