Were Protestants affected by the Famine?

Ireland’s Great Hunger did not discriminate. The famine of 1845 targeted both the Irish Catholic poor and the Protestant poor in the north of the country, a historian has stressed. Across Ireland, about one million people died in the famine and a further 1.5 million emigrated to Canada, America and England.

Did the Irish famine affect Ulster?

The claim that the Famine did not affect Ulster has been debunked by recent historical research. Surprisingly, research shows that the events from 1845 to 51 affected normally prosperous parts of the north-east, including Belfast, north Down and particularly the linen triangle of north Armagh.

Did Protestants die in the Famine?

Of the 2.15 million people lost over the period, 90.9\% were Catholic, and for every Protestant lost 7.94 Catholics were lost. This ratio is, however, slightly misleading as before the Famine Catholics outnumbered Protestants by 4.24 to one.

Who was affected most by the Irish potato famine?

Although estimates vary, it is believed as many as 1 million Irish men, women and children perished during the Famine, and another 1 million emigrated from the island to escape poverty and starvation, with many landing in various cities throughout North America and Great Britain.

Was the potato Famine in Northern Ireland?

During the Great Hunger, about 1 million people died and more than a million fled the country, causing the country’s population to fall by 20–25\%, in some towns falling as much as 67\% between 1841 and 1851….Great Famine (Ireland)

How did the Irish potato famine contribute to Irish nationalism?

The Famine also made Irish people very anti-British. This was one of the factors that led to the emergence of violent Irish nationalist organizations such as the Fenians and the Irish Republican Army.

How did the famine affect Wicklow?

Over 800 instances of cattle and sheep-stealing occurred between 1846 and 1850 in Wicklow. The highest number of prisoners ever held in Wicklow Gaol in a year was in 1848, at the height of the famine, when 780 people were imprisoned. At this point the gaol had only 77 cells.

Where was the Irish famine worst?

With the most severely affected areas in the west and south of Ireland, where the Irish language was dominant, the period was contemporaneously known in Irish as an Drochshaol, loosely translated as “the hard times” (or literally “the bad life”). The worst year of the period was 1847, known as “Black ’47”.

What did the Catholic Church do during the Irish famine?

THE Catholic Church “took advantage of the prevailing destitution to increase its land holdings” during the Famine, according to an editorial in the current issue of the respected British Catholic weekly, The Tablet. It also notes that Irish landowners, “some of them Catholic”, were “among the indifferent”.

How did the famine affect Ireland?

It decimated Ireland’s population, which stood at about 8.5 million on the eve of the Famine. It is estimated that the Famine caused about 1 million deaths between 1845 and 1851 either from starvation or hunger-related disease. A further 1 million Irish people emigrated.

What caused the Irish famine 1845?

What caused the Great Famine? The Great Famine was caused by a failure of the potato crop, which many people relied on for most of their nutrition. A disease called late blight destroyed the leaves and edible roots of the potato plants in successive years from 1845 to 1849.