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The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger (Irish: an Gorta Mór [ənˠ ˈɡɔɾˠt̪ˠə ˈmˠoːɾˠ]), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, [1] [2] was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact on Irish society and history as a whole. [3]
The legacy of the Great Famine in Ireland (Irish: An Gorta Mór [1] or An Drochshaol, litt: The Bad Life) followed a catastrophic period of Irish history between 1845 and 1852 [2] during which time the population of Ireland was reduced by 50 percent. [3] The Great Famine (1845–1849) was a watershed in the history of Ireland. [4]
20 November – a relief commission for Ireland first meets. [5] [7] 5 December – unable to persuade his Cabinet to repeal the Corn Laws in the face of the Great Famine, Peel tenders his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom [7] to Queen Victoria but is reinstated days later when Lord John Russell is unable to form a government. [5]
An 1849 depiction of Bridget O'Donnell and her two children during the famine. The chronology of the Great Famine (Irish: An Gorta Mór [1] or An Drochshaol, lit. ' The Bad Life ') documents a period of Irish history between 29 November 1845 and 1852 [2] during which time the population of Ireland was reduced by 20 to 25 percent. [3]
The Great Hunger is a 1962 book about the 1845–1849 Great Famine in Ireland by the British historian Cecil Woodham-Smith. It was published by Harper and Row and Penguin Books. The British broadcaster and journalist Robert Kee described it, "A masterpiece of the historian's art".
In Ireland births fell by a third, resulting in about 0.5 million "lost lives". Declines elsewhere were lower: Flanders lost 20–30%, the Netherlands about 10–20%, and Prussia about 12%. [3] Emigration to escape the famine centred mainly on Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.
1845–1857: Highland Potato Famine: Scotland: 1845–1852: Great Famine killed more than 1,000,000 out of over 8.5 million people inhabiting Ireland. Between 1.5–2 million people were forced to emigrate [85] Ireland: 600,000 to over 1,500,000 that emigrated 1846
21 April – Great Famine: 96 inmates of the overcrowded Ballinrobe Union Workhouse have died over the course of the preceding week from illness and other famine-related conditions, a record high. This year's potato crop again fails and there are renewed outbreaks of cholera .