Causes of the Famine

1. Causes of the Famine

2. Sub-division • Family land-even if it was rented-was traditionally divided up equally among the sons on the death of the father. This practice was known as sub-division. This meant the size of farms became smaller with every passing generation. • In 1845 almost 200,000 families lived on less than 5 acres per family, while 135,000 families had less than 1 acre

3. This is how sub-division worked Farmer Son Son Son

4. Tasks • What do you think is going to happen to each generation as the land becomes sub-divided? • Explain how sub-division developed a reliance on the potato? • Why were small holders easier to evict from the land? • Write a sentence explaining the meaning of subsist? (Use a dictionary to help)

5. Population Growth • The population of Ireland increased from around 5 million in 1801 to over 8 million in 1841. This was largely due to the fact that a family could live off a very small piece of land growing potatoes and, therefore, people began to get married younger and have more children. • The population growth led to more sub-division of land as well as to an increase in the number of landless labourers.

6. Draw the following figures on to a bar graph

7. Questions on Pre-Famine Population • What was the population growth between 1741 & 1841? (Show your working out in all questions) • What was the climb in population in the twenty years between 1821 and 1841? • What is the difference in population now in Ireland (5.6m) to that in 1741? • 4. Who do you think the ‘troublemaker’ is? Why do you think that it is shown in this way?

8. Dependence on the potato • Many Irish families depended almost entirely on the potato for food. By 1845, about one third of the population ate little except potatoes. Most of the other crops and livestock were sold to pay rent to the landlord. • It was only possible to live on such plots of land because potatoes were easy to grow, even on poor soil and they could produce a large yield on a small amount of land. • Potatoes were very nutritious. On average, a grown man ate 7lbs-14lbs of potatoes per day, whilst the children ate 5 lbs. • For most families, there were at least two months of the year when the old potato crop had run out and the new one was not ready. These were known as the “hungry” or “meal” months when people were forced to eat a kind of porridge instead.

9. Dependence on the potato • Was the population growth in Ireland simply down to the potato? • Do up a poster promoting potatoes- Remember potatoes were a ‘wonder food’. Use the advantages of the potato to help you think of ideas for your poster.

10. Potatoes the ‘Wonder Food’ I always have yields- loads of my brothers and sisters grow from small amounts of land I can grow from the poorest quality of land. Star Quality Try them today I am very tasty and nutritious. Try me with some buttermilk

11. Potato Blight • In 1845 a fungal disease struck the Irish potato crop. The first sign of a problem was when the leaves of the potato plant went black and died. By the time people noticed this; it was too late to save the potatoes. • The potato blight spread easily because of the previously mild winter and the wet and windy autumn. • The potatoes became a stinking soggy, black mess. • In 1845 about half of the potato crop in Ireland had been destroyed.