Irish Potato Famine

Setting the Stage for Famine

Barely a century and a half later, it can be difficult to understand how the loss of a single crop could so devastate a country, but Ireland's food supply was deeply dependent on the potato, specifically the Irish Lumper variety. From 1844 to 1847, the Irish potato harvest fell from about 15 million tons to just over 2 million tons. The expansion of the Irish economy in the late 18th century had been conducted on the back of the potato, which became the staple food of the poor during winter and times of poor harvests because of its long-keeping properties, its ease of production, and its flexibility as a crop. Two-thirds of the country depended on farming for their livelihood, and few farmers were paid a significant wage; most lived off of, or were given a portion of, the crop they raised, which gave them very little flexibility during times of crop failure. Further, they had few choices in what to grow, and Irish farming was nearly a monoculture devoted to the potato crop. Though they knew the crop could be unreliable—the government had recorded 24 failures of the potato harvest of varying severity since 1728, including a total failure in 1839—this was also true of most other crops, and the fungus-like [Page 1239]oomycete responsible for the 1840s potato famine had not previously appeared. Before then, most crop failures resulted from a condition farmers called “dry rot.”

An illustration in the December 4, 1886 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper depicts Irish peasants seizing the potato crop of an evicted tenant in Kerry. Although the Irish Potato Famine had ended over 30 years earlier, its long-term effects would shape Irish society for nearly a century. The subdivision of small peasant landholdings ended; since access to rural Irish land was essential to support a married couple, landholding fathers arranged their children's marriages. Many remaining, unmarried women emigrated to America.

At the start of the famine, 40 percent of Irish tenant farms were under 15 acres, and about a quarter were under five acres. As a result, few Irish had enough land on which to ranch, and few crops available at the time, other than the potato, could be produced in great enough quantities to provide enough reliable sustenance, especially in the winter months. Some potatoes could be kept in cellars, while tubers could lie safely in near-frozen fields and laboriously be dug up as necessary, alongside winter crops like carrots and rutabagas.

Under the 1801 Act of Union, Ireland was directly governed as part of the United Kingdom under the lord lieutenant and chief secretary, both of whom were appointed by the British government. Most Irish legislators in the House of Commons and House of Lords were landowners, and the peasant population had little political voice or power, similar to the Catholic population. Although Catholics constituted at least three-quarters of the population, they had been forbidden by law, during most of the 18th century, from owning or leasing land, voting, holding office, entering a profession, or obtaining an education.

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