CHAPTER CONTENTS A. How Do We Know about An Gorta Mór? 307 B. Causes of An Gorta Mór
309
C. An Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger) 1845–1850
D. Results of the Famine Apply Your Learning
A short history of An Gorta Mór The Famine that occurred in Ireland between 1845 and 1850 is possibly the single biggest disaster in the history of Ireland. Known as An Gorta Mór or The Great Hunger, the Famine caused over one million people to emigrate from Ireland to places such as Britain, America, Canada or Australia. It is also estimated that another one million people died of starvation and disease. The vast majority of the people who died were rural and poor. At first, the reason for the Famine was a disease called blight that destroyed the potato crops between 1845 and 1848. However, the response by the British government meant that far greater numbers of people died and emigrated than needed to. The experience of An Gorta Mór had a huge impact on the island of Ireland and also in the way that the Irish have interacted with Britain and the world since then.