Irish Great Famine

Author: Peter Gray
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: In the early 19th century, the living conditions of the Irish were at the lowest in Europe. The tyrannical oppression of landlords and the tax oppression of the British government made them suffer immensely. Adding to this, in 1845, an unknown disease struck the potato crop, directly leading to the outbreak of the famine. This book describes a long-forgotten history, a painful memory. The Irish of the 19th century, most of whom were farmers, were the poorest residents in Europe. Potatoes were their only source of sustenance, yet the landlords, who were British, were only concerned with the export of grain and livestock. In the autumn of 1845, an unknown disease struck the potato crop. Natural disasters and political oppression forced people to rebel, but finally failed. Peter Gray exposes this unreasonable phenomenon: over a million Irish people died of hunger, yet this tragedy awakened the national consciousness of the Irish, leading to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. On the way from Cork to Dublin, I saw this crop in full bloom, and it should have been a good harvest. On August 3rd, on my return journey, I only saw rotten crops covering the vast fields. In many places, poor people sat despondently on the fences of their ruined vegetable gardens, twisting their hands in grief, as the disaster had just taken away their food.