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#Post#: 1956--------------------------------------------------
The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: Val
Date: March 5, 2023, 12:09 pm
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I wonder if many of you here know anything about the history of;
and the relationship between Ireland and Great Britain over the
last 400 years.
Did you learn about the Irish famine that occurred between the
years 1845 and 1852 or that 1.5 million Irish men women and
children died of hunger and disease during those 6 years and
about 1.7 million of the lucky ones emigrated on the famine
ships otherwise known as the coffin ships, the death rate on
these ships was over 30%.
British landlords sometimes paid for the fare to the US and
Canada by taking their small holdings that is their houses
animals and lands and anything of value, many landlords just
took the lands anyway and left them to die on the side of the
road.
The famine was caused by the potatoes blight of 1844-46 that
swept across North American and Europe but Ireland was worst hit
because the potato was the poor farmers main food source, it was
easy to grow and as they only had small areas to grow food for
their own use it was all that they could afford, other crops
like corn, wheat or oats was used for export this made bread far
too expensive for the poor, during the famine Ireland under
British rule was exporting grain by the boatload; these exports
included poultry, pigs, cattle, honey, cheese and vegetables,
all far too expensive for the starving, In fact these exports
increased during the famine years.
For anyone interested there is book called The Truth behind the
Irish Famine, I think it is worth a read.
HTML https://www.irishecho.com/2020/12/the-truth-behind-the-irish-famine
HTML https://www.ighm.org/learn.html
#Post#: 1993--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: guest8
Date: March 6, 2023, 6:38 am
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Britain has a lot to answer for having treated the island of
Ireland so badly over the centuries, which led to the rise of
the IRA and the troubles! >:( If I had my way Northern Ireland
would no longer be a British domain.
I am proud of my Irish citizenship, which I acquired in 2008
having had an Irish grandparent.
#Post#: 2028--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: Val
Date: March 6, 2023, 4:52 pm
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Evening Roses, thank you for the reply, yes great Britain has a
lot to answer for but there is no point in raking up the past or
asking awkward questions.
The reason I brought this up is that my daughter-in-law was born
in England in the mid 80's and we were talking recently about
the present situation in Northern Ireland and whether the DUP
will accept the Windsor framework the latest edition for
Northern Ireland and its relationship in trade between the UK
Ireland and the EU.
She said as we had a similar conversation over 10 years ago that
she was never taught anything about the history between Ireland
and the UK and the six counties of Ulster that is Northern
Ireland which is legally in the UK.
She was well informed about the recent troubles that is from
1969 and the rise of terrorism in NI and and mostly about the
IRA..
So I just wondered if any of you Thaddeans who had been schooled
before
or during 1969 had.
#Post#: 2057--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: Lyn
Date: March 7, 2023, 10:16 am
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We didn't learn about it at school, I read and learned a lot
later on and was horrified. It was very, very upsetting indeed.
I too am partly Irish (Northern Irish).
#Post#: 2090--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: Gregory
Date: March 7, 2023, 3:13 pm
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As someone who has always had an interest in current events (and
having studied History and Politics at university), I've
followed events in Northern Ireland as they've happened since
the start of the post-1969 Troubles, reading up on the
background in newspapers and watching television reportage,
although not in any great depth in terms of research. I found
the violence committed by both communities appalling and somehow
alien (we've had nothing like it in the rest of the UK for many,
many years and our own civil war took place four hundred years
ago.) Apart from political considerations, it demonstrated the
pernicious use to which religion can be put with Catholics and
Protestants happily slaughtering each other under the sign of
the cross. The same can be said, of course, for the religious
wars which racked Europe for centuries. At least, a whole
generation has grown up in Northern Ireland in relative peace.
#Post#: 2094--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: guest6
Date: March 8, 2023, 3:47 am
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I did not learn anything about this at school in the 70's. This
is, in retrospect, shocking.
However, our neighbours when I was growing up were Irish and
through some kind of weird cultural osmosis, I found out about
this and read about it in my teens. I don't remember how the
information made its way into my brain I only know it was
somehow due to these neighbours.
I would wager that a good proportion of the English population
is still ignorant of this appalling part of our history, but
that is what happens when history is not taught in a
well-rounded manner and also made optional in some cases.
Indeed when you look at the guidelines for History on Gov.uk it
makes for dispiriting reading:
--- Quote ---
> Schools are not required by law to teach the example content
in [square brackets] or the content indicated as being
‘non-statutory’.
--- End Quote ---
Under "ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain,
1745-1901"
It is worth noting that "Ireland and Home Rule" come under the
"non-statutory" category.
Pathetic.
#Post#: 2097--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: Leslie
Date: March 8, 2023, 4:40 am
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I have written about it in the old St Thads . I have known about
it for ages, I can't remember when I first read about it.. The
ships to Canada, full of poor , under nourished Irish and
sometimes pregnant Irish women were called "coffin ships".
#Post#: 2100--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: Beverly
Date: March 8, 2023, 11:03 am
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We weren't taught this in America, but after I first heard the
song Zombie by the Cranberries, I researched Northern Ireland
and was appalled. Sans the biblical justification, it reminded
me of what happened to the Palestinians in modern-day Israel
with regards to the brutal takeover of homes and properties of a
people who'd lived there for centuries.
According to Ancestry.com, I have 7% Irish DNA, This likely is
from my 5x great grandparents (John Dugan, wife, four children)
who came to Philadelphia from Balfast, Ireland in 1816--too
early to have been because of the Great Famine. The time of
their immigration could indicate they left because of the losing
battle for Irish independence. Based on the land values of their
oldest son by 1850 and one grandson, my guess is they came with
some means, though. A $10,000 land value by that time was a lot
and uncommon even among their neighbors.
#Post#: 9632--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Truth behind the Irish Famine
DIR By: gwinnie
Date: October 11, 2023, 3:01 pm
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I learnt little of Irish and British history at school. This was
in the Netherlands and our focus was on Dutch history. Except of
course for a rather in/famous intersection between the
Dutch/Irish/British histories, that we did learn about. What
little I knew of the overall history, was from news programmes.
As a young adult in London I started putting together the pieces
of my fragmented knowledge, through music, film, documentaries,
art and also through Irish contemporaries in London. I think the
Good Friday Agreement is a phenomenal piece of peacemaking that
I would dearly love to see emulated in troubled parts of the
world.
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