The new government under russell a the he had a different policy from peel. The liberal whigs, the corther ideology, was a basky lase far which stresses that the role of the state is not to interfere in economy and so on. After 18 forty seven, there is a decision that land should be left to deal with the issue of famine ons on its own resources. And even at the time, lord clarendon, who as the lord lieutenant, declared in october 18 forty seven that ireland cannot survive on the basis of its if its ownresources. This was a a pan uk wide problem involving britoin and ireland. So it
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why the potato crop failures in the 1840s had such a catastrophic impact in Ireland. It is estimated that one million people died from disease or starvation after the blight and another two million left the country within the decade. There had been famines before, but not on this scale. What was it about the laws, attitudes and responses that made this one so devastating?
The image above is from The Illustrated London News, Dec. 29, 1849, showing a scalp or shelter, "a hole, surrounded by pools, and three sides of the scalp were dripping with water, which ran in small streams over the floor and out by the entrance. The poor inhabitants said they would be thankful if the landlord would leave them there, and the Almighty would spare their lives. Its principal tenant is Margaret Vaughan."
With
Cormac O'Grada
Professor Emeritus in the School of Economics at University College Dublin
Niamh Gallagher
University Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History at the University of Cambridge
And
Enda Delaney
Professor of Modern History and School Director of Research at the University of Edinburgh
Producer: Simon Tillotson