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Irish Famine facts

While investigating facts about Irish Famine Genocide and Irish Famine Memorial, I found out little known, but curios details like:

Irish American actor Robert De Niro was raised by an openly gay Catholic father and an atheist mother in New York just two generations after his family fled Ireland to escape the famine

how the irish potato famine was solved?

In 1847, with a population of just 20,000 people, Toronto took in 38,560 Irish famine victims

What caused the irish famine?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what was the irish potato famine. Here are 50 of the best facts about Irish Famine Years and Irish Famine Museum I managed to collect.

what caused the irish potato famine?

  1. During the Irish Famine the Choctaw Nation, who were going through poverty and starvation themselves, donated as much money as they could raise in solidarity with the Irish. The 'Kindred Spirits' sculpture commemorates this event

  2. Irish goodbye" refers to a person ducking out of a party, social gathering or very bad date without bidding farewell. The phrase is attributed to the Potato Famine of 1845-1852, when many Irish fled their homeland for America. The distance and technology meant that they were gone forever.

  3. The Irish potato famine was not about blight. There was plenty of food to feed everyone in Ireland. The main problem was greed. And British rulers who blamed the poor themselves.

  4. Midway through the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), a group of Choctaw Indians collected $710 and sent it to help the starving victims. It had been just 16 years since the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, and faced their own starvation.

  5. During the Great Famine, Ireland continued to export enormous quantities of food to England. This kept food prices far too high for the average Irish peasant to afford and was a major contributing factor in the large death toll from the famine.

  6. A mere 16 years after being marched 1000s of Miles during the ‘Trail of Tears’, the Choctaw donated what is equivalent to tens of thousands today to Irish during their potato famine.

  7. According to legend, in 1845, Ottoman Sultan declared his intention to send £10,000 to victims of the Irish potato famine, but was instructed to send only £1,000, so as not to donate more than Queen Victoria, who had sent £2,000. He sent £1,000 along with three or five ships full of food.

  8. In 1847 the Choctaw Nation raised $170 to help victims of the Irish Potato Famine despite having just been forced through the Trail of Tears.

  9. Just 16 years after being forcibly relocated on the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw Nation donated $170 to help the starving victims of the Irish potato famine in 1847

  10. During the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were given construction jobs, so they could earn food rather than receive it as a handout. However, to avoid taking jobs from other workers, these people built useless projects, like roads in the middle of nowhere, and piers in the middle of bogs.

irish famine facts
What year was the irish potato famine?

Why didn't the irish fish during the famine?

You can easily fact check why did the irish starve during the potato famine by examining the linked well-known sources.

During the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were hired for useless construction projects called 'famine follies' in order to provide them with work that would not take existing work away from other workers. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points.

Because of the starvation and hardship endured by the Irish people during the potato famine, Ireland has been at the forefront of famine relief and its people have given more to the fundraising efforts of Live Aid per capita than any other nation in the world. - source

During the Irish famine, about a million people died and another million emigrated, causing the Island's population to drop by about 20-25 percent. - source

Schizophrenia was so commonplace among the post-famine Irish immigrant population, that it was often called 'Irish Madness'.

The man in charge of British government aid to areas affected by the Irish potato famine thought the famine was "God's judgement", cancelled aid and allowed thousands to die. - source

When was the irish potato famine?

Not only did the Choctaw nation donate during the Irish Famine but they also donated to the Shell to Sea campaign.

How many died in the irish famine?

In Manhattan is a small memorial to the Great Irish Famine, consisting of a half-acre plot landscaped with stones, soil, and native vegetation transported from Ireland, as well as a 19th-century stone cottage that was dismantled in County Mayo and reconstructed at the memorial site.

A Native American people, the Choctaw, donated money to the Irish during the Great Famine after suffering starvation themselves in the Trail of Tears

Ireland is the only country in Europe to have a lower population now than 100 years ago. This can mostly be attributed to the Great Irish Famine which caused over 4 million to die or emigrate on coffin ships. The British sending food to Britain greatly contributed to mass starvation.

The Irish speak English because of the potato famine which killed off a quarter of its population and there were jobs in the English speaking cities and the school system promoted English and new immigrants

Sir Charles Trevelyan the colonial administrator who saw the Irish Famine as an "effective mechanism for reducing surplus population" – he was in charge of giving aid relief

When was the irish famine?

In the largest mass execution in US history, fifty Irish deserters were hanged after switching sides in the Mexican War, many were survivors of the Great Famine, and sympathized more with the oppressed Mexican Catholics than they did with the largely southern American protestants

Due to all copper being used for war purposes instead of fungicide, 700,000 Germans died in WWI of starvation due to the fungus that caused the Great Irish Famine

During the Irish Famine, Choctaw Indians raised $170 to help ease the suffering.

Potato is staple food in numerous countries around the world. Great Irish Famine in 19th century was a consequence of fungal disease of potato (known as potato blight). Fast spreading disease and lack of potatoes led to nearly million human deaths.

The Irish population has still not returned to pre-potato famine levels.

How many irish died in the potato famine?

During the Irish Potato Famine, Native American Choctaw Indians raised and donated $710 USD to Ireland to ease suffering. That is the equivalent of approximately $1m USD today.

The Irish Potato Famine is considered by many to be a genocide. British troops forcefully exported Irish livestock and crops, leaving only the blighted potato.

By eating only potatoes and buttermilk, Irish peasants were healthier than English or European counterparts who ate bread. The problem with dependence on the potato was when the crop failed, such as the 1845 famine that killed one million and caused another million to emigrate.

In 1992, a group of people from Ireland walked a 500-mile journey from Bow, Oklahoma to Nanih Waiya, Mississippi – retracing in reverse the Trail of Tears forced upon the Choctaw Nation, which in 1847 had given aid to the Irish during the Great Famine.

The Ottomans planned to send £10,000 to the Irish during the Irish famine, but Britain persuaded them to send only £1,000 instead so that Queen Victoria isn't embarassed because she only sent £5,000 to Ireland

The Irish weren't the only British subjects to experience famine. The Bengals in India suffered many famines while under British rule, starting in 1770, five years after the British took control. During the famine of 1943, over 3 million died.

Potatoes become such a staple in the diet of the Irish that the average person in Ireland consumed 10 pounds of potatoes each day. The Great Potato Famine, which occurred in the 1840s due to a disease affecting potato plants, reduced Ireland's population by over 20%.

The Irish Potato Famine caused Ireland's population to drop by over 32% in just 20 years

The Irish Famine Memorial, the park has two groups of statues to contrast status of an Irish family suffering during the Great Famine of 1845–1852 with a prosperous family that had emigrated to America. It has been described as "the most mocked and reviled public sculpture in Boston"

About Sir Paweł Strzelecki, a world-renowned Polish explorer and geologist, who as the main agent of the British Relief Association (B.R.A) helped 200,000 Irish Children survive The Great Irish Famine.

According to John Mitchel the Irish Famine was deliberate policy of the British Empire.

In 1860 Michael Corcoran colonel of the famous 69th Infantry regiment refused to parade the regiment for the visiting Prince of Wales, protesting British activity during the Irish famine. He was placed under arrest but the charges were dropped when the Civil War began.

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about Irish Famine. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is Irish Famine so important!

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