The Irish Famine was the first national disaster to attract international fundraising activities. These activities cut across traditional divides of religion, nationality, class and gender. Such a response was unprecedented. The earliest fund-raising activities took place at the end of 1845. The first place to send money to Ireland was Calcutta in India. The fundraising was … [Read more...] about Help from Afar
The Great Famine
The Spoilers of Our Land
How the British Government Responded to the Great Hunger In January 1847, the Nation published a poem entitled ‘The Stricken Land.’ It was a searing indictment of the policies of the British Government in the wake of the second failure of the potato crop only a few months earlier. It was written by a young woman, Jane Elgee, who was drawn from the Protestant … [Read more...] about The Spoilers of Our Land
Why Famine Came to Ireland
The potato blight that arrived in Europe in the summer of 1845 was, like the potato itself, an American export. The fungus that caused the blight was a microscopic organism that would not be identified scientifically for another fifteen years. But even after its identification, no effective treatment for the blight would be found till a Frenchman named Millardet would notice … [Read more...] about Why Famine Came to Ireland
News Roundup February 25, 2023
National Famine Commemoration Date Announced This year’s National Famine Commemoration will be held in Milford, Co. Donegal, on Sunday, May 21. The commemoration will be broadcasted on RTÉ News Now channel. “The National Famine Commemoration is a special opportunity for the current generation to acknowledge the suffering, death, and anguish borne by the … [Read more...] about News Roundup February 25, 2023