Ireland's Famine Museum

Denise Silvester-Carr introduces the new Famine Museum at Strokestown, County Roscommon.

The greatest social catastrophe of nineteenth-century Europe happened in Ireland 150 years ago. The failure of the potato crop in successive harsh winters saw a huge fall in a population conservatively calculated at 8,175,124 in the in the 1841 census. As no record was kept of deaths, it is estimated that between 1845 and 1850 almost 1.5 million people died of hunger or of diseases brought on by famine, and a similar number emigrated. The loss decimated an entire rural class – the landless labourer – and by 1881 just over 4 million people were left. In one town alone, Strokestown, in the western county of Roscommon, a population of 11,958 was reduced by a staggering 88 per cent.

To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.

Start my trial subscription now

If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.

Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.