Great Famine - Relief Efforts, Ireland, 1845-1852

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[{"p":2,"t":294137},{"p":1,"t":627776},{"p":1,"t":2231617},{"p":10,"t":294109},{"p":28,"t":293754},{"p":1,"t":1803217},{"p":4,"t":1781371},{"p":1,"t":650339},{"p":1,"t":212568},{"p":1,"t":31439}], "sequence": 2, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content md-expanded" data-topic-id="294137"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history">Great Famine</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history">Introduction & Top Questions</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref348031"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history#ref348031">Cause of the Great Famine</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref348032"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history/Great-Famine-relief-efforts">Great Famine relief efforts</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref348033"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><div class="ml-25"></div><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history/Great-Famine-relief-efforts#ref348033">Death toll, emigration to America, and demographic effects</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Great-Famine-Irish-history">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" 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src="https://cdn.britannica.com/62/213462-138-8A3FB111/Ireland-origins-who-are-the-Irish-people-history-culture.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="How many Americans have Irish ancestry?" class="col-100" /> <div class="btn btn-sm btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)"> <em class="material-icons font-14" data-icon="play_arrow" > </em> </div> </div> </a> <a href="/video/overview-Great-Famine-Ireland/187137" data-href="/media/1/294137/187137" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <div class="position-relative --aspect-ratio: 16/9"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/51/171551-138-EFBFEFBD/overview-Great-Famine-Ireland.jpg?w=400&h=225&c=crop" alt="The devastating impact of Ireland's Great Potato Famine" class="col-100" /> <div class="btn btn-sm btn-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%, -50%)"> <em class="material-icons font-14" data-icon="play_arrow" > </em> </div> </div> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/146793-050-01C0AECB/Victims-illustration-Irish-Potato-Famine-Eng-Liverpool-July-6-1850.jpg" data-href="/media/1/294137/154945" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/146793-004-1368B9BB/Victims-illustration-Irish-Potato-Famine-Eng-Liverpool-July-6-1850.jpg" alt="Great Famine" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/146794-050-B7AD5EAD/Victims-Ireland-ship-wood-engraving-North-America-1890.jpg" data-href="/media/1/294137/154946" class="media-overlay-link d-inline-block mr-5"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/146794-004-D0615D93/Victims-Ireland-ship-wood-engraving-North-America-1890.jpg" alt="Great Famine" height="50" /> </a> <a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/44/1744-050-470B2D7D/Population-changes-Ireland-Irish-Potato-Famine-1851.jpg" data-href="/media/1/294137/289" class="media-overlay-link 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Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences; Professor of Economics and History, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Author of <i>Why Ireland Starved: A Quantitative and Analytical History...</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Joel Mokyr</span></div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 qa-editor-popup font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2025-02-13T00:00:00CST" >Feb 13, 2025</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Famine-Irish-history/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Also called: </dt> <dd>Irish Potato Famine, Great Irish Famine, or Famine of 1845–49</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Date: </dt> <dd>1845 - 1849 </dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Location: </dt> <dd><a href="/place/Ireland">Ireland</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Context: </dt> <dd><a href="/topic/human-migration">human migration</a></dd> <dd><a href="/place/Ireland">Ireland</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/late-blight">late blight</a></dd> <dd><a href="/plant/potato">potato</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/Phytophthora-infestans">Phytophthora infestans</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Key People: </dt> <dd><a href="/biography/John-Russell-1st-Earl-Russell">John Russell, 1st Earl Russell</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Great-Famine-Irish-history"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><span class="marker h3"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref348032">  <span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The <span id="ref1198943"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink ">British</a> government’s efforts to relieve the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/famine" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">famine</a> were inadequate. Although <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Conservative-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Conservative</a> Prime Minister <span id="ref1231356"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Peel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sir Robert Peel</a> continued to allow the export of grain from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ireland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Ireland</a> to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44914" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Great Britain</a>, he did what he could to provide relief in 1845 and early 1846. He authorized the import of corn (maize) from the <span id="ref1198942"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">United States</a>, which helped avert some starvation. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Liberal-Party-political-party-United-Kingdom" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Liberal</a> (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Whig-Party-England" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Whig</a>) cabinet of <span id="ref1231357"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Russell-1st-Earl-Russell" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Lord John Russell</a>, which assumed power in June 1846, maintained Peel’s policy regarding grain exports from Ireland but otherwise took a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/laissez-faire" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">laissez-faire</a> approach to the plight of the Irish and shifted the emphasis of relief efforts to a reliance on Irish resources.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Much of the financial burden of providing for the starving Irish peasantry was thrown upon the Irish landowners themselves (through local poor relief) and British <a href="https://www.britannica.com/money/absentee-ownership" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">absentee landowners</a>. Because the peasantry was unable to pay its rents, however, the landlords soon ran out of funds with which to support them, and the result was that hundreds of thousands of Irish tenant farmers and labourers were evicted during the years of the crisis. Under the terms of the harsh 1834 British <span id="ref1231358"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Poor-Law" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Poor Law</a>, enacted in 1838 in Ireland, the “able-bodied” <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="indigent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indigent" data-type="MW">indigent</a> were sent to workhouses rather than being given famine relief per se. British assistance was limited to loans, helping to fund soup kitchens, and providing employment on road building and other <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/public-utility" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">public works</a>. The Irish disliked the imported cornmeal, and reliance on it led to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/nutritional-disease#ref247847" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">nutritional deficiencies</a>. Despite those shortcomings, by August 1847 as many as three million people were receiving rations at soup kitchens. All in all, the British government spent about £8 million on relief, and some private relief funds were raised as well. The impoverished Irish peasantry, lacking the money to purchase the foods their farms produced, continued throughout the famine to export grain, meat, and other high-quality foods to Britain. The government’s grudging and ineffective measures to relieve the famine’s distress intensified the resentment of British rule among the Irish people. Similarly damaging was the attitude among many British <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="intellectuals" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intellectuals" data-type="MW">intellectuals</a> that the crisis was a predictable and not-unwelcome corrective to high birth rates in the preceding decades and perceived flaws, in their opinion, in the Irish national character.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="154945" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/146793-050-01C0AECB/Victims-illustration-Irish-Potato-Famine-Eng-Liverpool-July-6-1850.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/294137/154945"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/146793-050-01C0AECB/Victims-illustration-Irish-Potato-Famine-Eng-Liverpool-July-6-1850.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/146793-050-01C0AECB/Victims-illustration-Irish-Potato-Famine-Eng-Liverpool-July-6-1850.jpg?w=300" alt="Great Famine" data-width="1600" data-height="1043" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/93/146793-050-01C0AECB/Victims-illustration-Irish-Potato-Famine-Eng-Liverpool-July-6-1850.jpg" data-href="/media/1/294137/154945">Great Famine </a><span>Victims of the Great Famine arriving in Liverpool, England; illustration in the <em>Illustrated London News</em>, July 6, 1850.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The famine coincided with a period of renewed expressions of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="nationalism" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nationalism" data-type="MW">nationalism</a> in Ireland in the mid-19th century. The nationalist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Young-Ireland" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Young Ireland</a> movement coalesced around a newspaper, <em>The Nation</em>, which began publication in 1842 and provided the growing movement for the repeal of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Act-of-Union-United-Kingdom-1801" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Act of Union</a> with a vital cultural and political outlet. The Young Ireland movement was both energized and divided by the famine of the 1840s. Two writers in particular immersed themselves in the period’s debate about Ireland’s future and Britain’s policies during the famine: John Mitchel and James Fintan Lalor. The most accomplished poet to publish in <em>The Nation</em> was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Clarence-Mangan" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">James Clarence Mangan</a>, who engaged with the famine in a melodramatic, intense, and often morbid style.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> </section> <span class="marker h4"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref348033"> <h2 class="h1">Death toll, emigration to America, and demographic effects</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="154946" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media" data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/146794-050-B7AD5EAD/Victims-Ireland-ship-wood-engraving-North-America-1890.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/294137/154946"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/146794-050-B7AD5EAD/Victims-Ireland-ship-wood-engraving-North-America-1890.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/146794-050-B7AD5EAD/Victims-Ireland-ship-wood-engraving-North-America-1890.jpg?w=300" alt="Great Famine" data-width="1600" data-height="1219" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/94/146794-050-B7AD5EAD/Victims-Ireland-ship-wood-engraving-North-America-1890.jpg" data-href="/media/1/294137/154946">Great Famine</a><span>Victims of Ireland's Great Famine (1845–49) emigrating to North America by ship; wood engraving c. 1890.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">The famine proved to be a watershed in the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="demographic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demographic" data-type="MW">demographic</a> history of Ireland. As a direct consequence of the famine, Ireland’s population of almost 8.4 million in 1844 had fallen to 6.6 million by 1851. The number of agricultural labourers and smallholders in the western and southwestern counties underwent an especially drastic decline. A further aftereffect of the famine was thus the clearing of many smallholders from the land and the concentration of landownership in fewer hands. Thereafter, more land than before was used for grazing sheep and cattle, providing animal foods for export to Britain.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">About one million people died from starvation or from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/typhus" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">typhus</a> and other <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="famine" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/famine" data-type="EB">famine</a>-related diseases. The number of Irish who emigrated during the famine may have reached two million. Between 1841 and 1850, 49 percent of the total emigrants to the United States were Irish. Ireland’s population continued to decline in the following decades because of overseas emigration and lower birth rates. By the time Ireland achieved independence in 1921, its population was barely half of what it had been in the early 1840s.</p><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> </section> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/contributor/Joel-Mokyr/4290">Joel Mokyr</a></span> <span class="md-signature"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":2,"pagesTotal":2,"pageId":294137,"pageLength":720,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.133.9"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-133/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.133.9' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"D","adLeg":"D","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":2,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":true} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Great Famine - Relief Efforts, Ireland, 1845-1852 | Britannica