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The Great Famine of Ireland Facts & Worksheets

The Great Famine of Ireland, also called the Irish Potato Famine or Great Irish Famine, occurred in Ireland in 1845-1849 when the potato crop failed.

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The Great Famine of Ireland, also called the Irish Potato Famine or Great Irish Famine, occurred in Ireland in 1845-1849 when the potato crop failed. 

See the fact file below for more information on The Great Famine of Ireland, or you can download our 26-page Glasgow worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

THE COUNTRY OF IRELAND

  • Ireland is the second largest country in Europe, located on the continent’s westernmost edge. The Republic of Ireland accounts for 80% of this landmass, with Northern Ireland, a large chunk of land to the north, belonging to the United Kingdom. Ireland’s island has 32 counties.
  • It is also known for its numerous ancient castles numbering at least 20,000, being home to three famous breweries, and being a snake-free country.
  • However, throughout history, it is also known for its dark periods, such as Viking invasions, human abuses, and famine.

CAUSE OF THE GREAT FAMINE

  • The Great Famine, widely known as the Irish Potato Famine, started in 1845 when Phytophthora infestans, a mold, created a damaging plant disease that spread quickly throughout Ireland.
  • The Great Famine struck Ireland between 1845 and 1851, killing approximately 1 million people and forcing up to 2.5 million more to flee or emigrate over a six-year period.
  • The failure of the potato crop, particularly in 1845 and 1846, as a result of the attack of the fungus known as potato blight, was the immediate cause of the Great Famine. 
  • In the mid-nineteenth century, the potato was the staple food of the Irish rural poor, and its failure exposed millions to starvation and death from sickness and malnutrition.
  • Ireland’s social and political landscape in the 1840s further exacerbated the issue. The majority of subsistence-level farmers and agricultural laborers, or “cottiers,” had little to no money to buy food, which was freely accessible in Ireland during the famine years. 
  • However, they were still required to continue paying their landlord’s rent, either in cash or in kind. Many thousands were forced to leave because this wasn’t done during the famine, which significantly increased the death toll. 
  • Dependency on potatoes was also a significant cause of the famine. In the years preceding the famine, potatoes briefly replaced all other food sources for one-third of Ireland’s population as the crop can thrive on fairly subpar soil, making it the perfect crop for poor tenant farmers. 
  • Even before the famine, poverty was pervasive in Ireland, and many tenant farmers lacked access to expansive tracts of land. It followed that farmers had to fight every day to put food on the table for their families.
  • Further complicating matters, historians now believe that, during the blight, Ireland continued to export significant amounts of food, mainly to Great Britain. 
  • According to a study, Ireland’s exports may have even increased during the famine in cases like butter and animals. Records show that even while the Great Hunger ravaged the countryside in 1847, goods, including peas, beans, rabbits, fish, and honey, continued to be exported from Ireland.

RELIEF EFFORTS

  • The British administration made insufficient attempts to alleviate hunger. Robert Peel, the Conservative Prime Minister, did his best to alleviate the situation in 1845 and the beginning of 1846, even though he continued to permit the exportation of grain from Ireland to Great Britain. 
  • He permitted the import of corn from the United States, preventing some people from going hungry.
  • However, landlords in Ireland and British absentee landowners received the majority of the relief efforts.
  • Despite their prior success in these positions, their income quickly began to suffer as their tenants’ poverty levels increased. 
  • British aid was restricted to loans, funding soup meals, and providing jobs for road construction and other public works.
  • The use of imported cornmeal, which the Irish detested, resulted in nutritional deficiencies. Despite these drawbacks, soup kitchens provided food to as many as three million people by August 1847.

EFFECTS OF THE GREAT FAMINE

  • Although there was no appreciable extra mortality during the first potato blight outbreak, rural Ireland experienced substantial suffering. 
  • The first documented cases of starving deaths occurred in the fall of 1846 when the Great Famine officially began. At first, food riots and protests occurred but dissipated as optimism and rage gave way to despair.
  • In 1846, the potato crop not only failed again but was much worse, with very few healthy potatoes collected that autumn.
  • Since most impoverished tenant farmer families had nothing left to fall back on, the food crisis was significantly worse, and 1846 saw the beginning of widespread starvation and a deadly epidemic made much worse by an abnormally cold winter. 
  • The majority of fatalities weren’t caused by starvation but rather by famine fever, which spread among weak and emaciated people.
  • The Irish famine created a hierarchy of suffering, as do all famines. The first victims were those in the rural poor category who were either landless or nearly landless. 
  • Since their holdings could no longer produce the same amount of potatoes as before, farmers saw that their land endowment had decreased.
  • They had to lessen their focus on tillage due to rising labor costs as well. Rental income for landlords fell by as much as a third. Infectious diseases also caused the deaths of numerous pastors, doctors, and underprivileged law enforcement officers.

DEATH TOLL, EMIGRATION, and DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS

  • The Great Irish Famine had catastrophic effects on the Irish people, decimating the population through widespread starvation, disease, and homelessness. 
  • Although the exact death toll from the famine is unknown, it is estimated that at least 1 million people perished, which represented 12–15% of Ireland’s population at the time.
  • Before the famine, there were probably 8.4 million people living in Ireland; by 1851, that number had dropped to about 6.6 million. 
  • Along with deaths, many people fled the country in quest of better lives elsewhere. 
  • Ireland’s people are still dealing with the effects of the famine today. In 1931, just 4.2 million people were living in Ireland; today, there are about 6.6 million, which is still below pre-famine numbers. 
  • Around 1.5 million people left the country as a result of the famine, most of whom went to North America. 
  • This large-scale migration, which persisted throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, induced a lasting demographic fall in the Irish population, which plummeted from roughly eight million in 1840 to about 4 million in 1900. 
  • The Irish language, spoken by up to 50% of the population before the famine but just 15% by 1900, likewise suffered a deadly blow.
  • According to recent studies, Ireland has never fully recovered from the famine. 

The Great Famine of Ireland Worksheets

This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about The Great Famine of Ireland across 26 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching kids about The Great Famine of Ireland, also called the Irish Potato Famine or Great Irish Famine, which occurred in Ireland in 1845-1849 when the potato crop failed. 

Great Famine of Ireland Worksheets
Great Famine of Ireland Worksheets
Great Famine of Ireland Worksheets

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Great Famine of Ireland Facts
  2. Mapping Ireland
  3. The Great Famine
  4. Phytophthora Infestans
  5. The Irish Plight
  6. Government Evaluation
  7. Modern Solutions
  8. British Apology
  9. Ireland Today
  10. An Elegy
  11. When the World Suffers

Frequently Asked Questions

When did the Great Famine of Ireland occur?

The Great Famine of Ireland occurred between 1845 and 1852.

What was the cause of the Great Famine of Ireland?

The Great Famine was caused by a potato blight that destroyed the potato crop, which was the main food source for the Irish population.

How many people died during the Great Famine of Ireland?

Approximately one million people died during the Great Famine, while another million emigrated from Ireland.

What were the effects of the Great Famine of Ireland?

The effects of the Great Famine included mass death, emigration, and a significant decline in the population of Ireland.

What was done to help the Irish people during the Great Famine of Ireland?

The British government provided relief through soup kitchens and public works projects, but these efforts were inadequate and criticized for being too slow and inadequate. Private charities and foreign aid also helped, but the scale of the disaster overwhelmed available resources.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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