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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]
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]
An 1849 depiction of Bridget O'Donnell and her two children during the famine, Kilrush Poor Law Union 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.
Aside from death from starvation and famine diseases, suffering came in other forms. While the demographic impact of famines is immediately visible in mortality, longer-term declines of fertility and natality can also dramatically affect population. In Ireland births fell by a third, resulting in about 0.5 million "lost lives".
The Famine devastated the Irish speaking areas of the country, which tended also to be rural and poor. As well as causing the deaths of thousands of Irish speakers, the famine also led to sustained and widespread emigration from the Irish-speaking south and west of the country.
The fall of Galway saw the end of organised resistance to the Cromwellian conquest, but fighting continued as small units of Irish troops launched guerrilla attacks on the Parliamentarians. The guerrilla phase of the war had been going since late 1650 and at the end of 1651, despite the defeat of the main Irish or Royalist forces, there were ...
As it was, the war in Ireland (which cost over £2 million) came very close to bankrupting the English exchequer by its close in 1603. Irish sources claimed that as many as 60,000 people had died in the Ulster famine of 1602–3 alone. An Irish death toll of over 100,000 is possible.
Ireland was also still reeling from the impact of the Great Famine. The British government's reaction had been too little and too late to prevent the Irish people from suffering great hardship. The British government's reaction had been too little and too late to prevent the Irish people from suffering great hardship.