The Famine

Question 1

What was the population in 1841

Answer 1

8.2 million

Question 2

What was the population in 1801

Answer 2

5.5 million

Question 3

What was life like in Belfast and Dublin

Answer 3

-Overcrowding=serious problem. 1-2 families living in 1 room
-Diseases(smallpox,scarlet fever) common. Infant deaths also common
-Adults and children worked in factories and on the docks.5.30am to 8pm. With Sundays off

Question 4

Life in rural Ireland

Answer 4

70% of population lived in the countryside
-Irish married young and had large familys
-Enclosure and improvements to farming methods arrived in Ireland and new machinery produced more food than ever

Question 5

What did Ireland export to Britain

Answer 5

Livestock (cattle) and grain

Question 6

While Ireland make food, what was made in Britain

Answer 6

Industrial goods

Question 7

Who owned most of the land

Answer 7

Descendants of the planters

Question 8

Who were large farmers

Answer 8

Farmers who rented more than 30 acres

Question 9

Who were small farmers

Answer 9

Farmers who rented between 5 and 30 acres

Question 10

Who were cottiers

Answer 10

Labourers who rented one acre of farmland. They made up 1/4 of the population

Question 11

The government of Ireland : the act of union

Answer 11

-1801
-Irish parliament ceased to exist
-now send 100mps to house of commons in Westminister and represent ped by 32 peers in house of lords
-laws passed in london applied to ireland

Question 12

Where was the government of ireland based

Answer 12

Dublin Castle

Question 13

Who was the head of the government of Ireland

Answer 13

Chief Secretary and was based in london

Question 14

How was the british king represented in Ireland

Answer 14

Lord lieutenant

Question 15

What was Catholic emancipation

Answer 15

The goal for Catholics, :that they be allowed to sit in parliament

Question 16

Why could Catholics not become mos even if elected

Answer 16

They had to swear an oath r recognising the king of england as head of the Church

Question 17

What is parliamentary tradition

Answer 17

The use of peaceful political means to achieve political change

Question 18

When was the great famine

Answer 18

1845-1850

Question 19

What is potato blight

Answer 19

Fungus that spreads in damp and humid weather and destroys potato crops

Question 20

Causes of the great famine

Answer 20

-rise in poluation
-widespread poverty
-small farms
-reliance on the potato
-cottiers working for rent rather than money
-potato blight

Question 21

Course of the faming: 1845

Answer 21

-farmers noticed potato stalks turning black and a strange smell for fields
-potatos were rotten
-potatos in storage from last harvest prevented mass starvation

Question 22

Course of the faming: 1856

Answer 22

-2/3 of crops were lost and people used ip their reserves
-poorest began to starve
-disease spread as immune systems were weak

Question 23

Course of the faming: 1847 (black 47)

Answer 23

-virtually no potato blight left but people had few seeds to plant
-poor continued to die of hunger and disease

Question 24

Course of the faming: 1848-1850

Answer 24

-starvation and disease worsened
-40,000 more people died in 1850 that 1846

Question 25

What is eviction

Answer 25

When someone is forced out of their home

Question 26

What does laissez-faire mean

Answer 26

Government should not interfere in the economy, as it would correct itself eventually

Question 27

Famine relief efforts: maize

Answer 27

-cheap corn from usa
-enough to feed one million people for one month
-offered at cost price, but many still couldn’t afford it

Question 28

Famine relief efforts : Public work schemes

Answer 28

-people earned money by building roads, walls or bridges
-1846, 400,00 people involved in work schemes
-1 shilling per day

Question 29

Famine relief efforts workhouses

Answer 29

-large building where people worked in return for basic accommodation and food
-whole family entered together so landlords could clear their land

Question 30

Famine relief efforts the Quakers

Answer 30

-religious society of friends
-set up soup kitchens (limerick + waterford)
-soup kitchens=gave soup to starving people who were not in workhouses

Question 31

Impact of the famine: fall in population

Answer 31

-the population droped by 2 million
-1mil died
-1mil left ireland

Question 32

Impact of the famine change in farming practices

Answer 32

-famine ended subdivision of land.a farm no longer was split between sons; the eldest inherited everything.-larger farms but younger sons and daughters had to emigrate
- many landlords used their land for cattle farming. Ireland shifted to largely cattle rearing farming

Question 33

Impact of the famine Rise in anti-British feeling

Answer 33

-many blamed the british for the famine and this led for lots of support for nationalist groups

Question 34

Impact of the famine Decline in Irish language

Answer 34

Over time people began to favour english over Irish as it would help them get work over seas if emigration was necessary

Question 35

Impact of the famine. Ew emigration trends

Answer 35

In 1881 the population had dropped y 3 million since 1841.
-7as and britain were popular destinations