The Great Hunger by Woodham Smith

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

The Great Hunger: Ireland: 1845-1849 (Paperback)

Published in 1962

If you have never read this book - you must! It is the story of the Irish Potato Famine that killed untold thousands (millions?) It really lays bare horrendous British indifference and incompetence in responding to the crisis.

An enduring classic.

[SheilaT]

1. I read it

in 1989, after a trip to Ireland.

I no longer recall many details, but do remember that I was impressed and horrified at how terrible the Famine was.

The population of Ireland was cut in half due to the Famine. Half of those died, the other half emigrated, mostly to America. And marriage and childbearing habits changed almost overnight, to later marriages and fewer children. As a consequence, the population of Ireland remained stable for nearly 150 years, and has only recently increased. These days, Ireland is a relatively prosperous nation, and I understand immigrants from all across the EU go there.

When we were there in 1989, as I understood it, the schools had emigration counselors, who'd advice students what country they'd be best off moving to, depending on what sort of work they planned to do.

The song "The Flight of Earls" is about that time.

The Flight of Earls lyrics:

I can hear the bells of Dublin
In this lonely waiting room
And the paper boys are singing in the rain
Not too long before
They take us to the airport
And the noise to get on board a transatlantic plane

We've got nothing left to stay for
We have no more left to say
And there isn't any work for us to do
So farewell you boys and girls
Another bloody flight of Earls
Our best asset is our best export too

It's not murder, fear or famine
that makes us leave this time
We're not going to join McAlpine's fusiliers
We've got brains and we've got vision
We've got education too
But we just can't throw away these precious years

So we walk the streets of London
And the streets of Baltimore
And we meet at night in several Boston bars
We're the leaders of the future
But we're far away from home
And we dream of you beneath the Irish stars

As we look on Ellis Island
And the Lady in the Bay
And Manhattan turns to face another Sunday
We just wonder what your doing
For to bring us all back home
As we look forward to another Monday

Because it's not the work that scares us
We don't mind an honest job
And we know things will get better once again
So a thousand times adieu
We've got Bono and U2
And all we're missing is the Guinness and the rain

So switch off our new computers
Cause the writing's on the wall
We're leaving as our fathers did before
Take a look at Dublin airport
Or the boat that leaves Northwall
There'll be no youth unemployment anymore

Because we're over here in Queensland
And in parts of New South Wales
We're on the seas and airways and the trains
And if we see better days
Those big airplanes go both ways
And we'll all be coming home to you again

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. The talk around here is that people are returning.....

>>>>When we were there in 1989, as I understood it, the schools had emigration counselors, who'd advice students what country they'd be best off moving to, depending on what sort of work they planned to do.>>>>

... these days , more or less permanently. Economy and all.

Though there's still a pretty big Irish-born community on the northern ouskirts of NYC.

[bdf]

3. According to this week's New Scientist

The potato blight his most of Europe, it's just that Ireland was more dependent upon potatoes than other countries in Europe.

Far worse is that the blight is making a comeback in Europe. Apparently the blight exists in two genders and only one of those genders made it to Europe in the 19th century. When it reproduces asexually the spores survive for a shorter time in the soil than when it reproduces sexually. It's also able to evolve faster when it reproduces sexually. Now both genders are in Europe.

Worse still, the entire world is becoming more dependent upon potatoes because they can be dual-cropped with grain and so boost the amount of food that can be produced per acre.