Chapter 13 : The Irish Famine

Question 1

Tenant farmers

Answer 1

They rented land from a landlord. They rented their land. Some practiced subsistence farming. They grew just enough food to pay their rent and feed their family

Question 2

Cottiers

Answer 2

Worked for tenant farmers. Rented a conarce from them which was a small patch of land to build a house. The tenant farmer kept this a secret from the landlord so they didn’t increase their rent.
They relied on the potato. Where the soil was bed in the west, lazybeds were used. This was where potato seed was put on a piece of turf and covered with another piece of turf.

Question 3

Over reliance on the potato

Answer 3

It was nutritious, could be grown on a small patch of land and it suited the damp Irish climate.
The potato blight came in 1845 when a fungus made the potato rot.
Black 47 was the worst year.
While people were starving, the rich were buying and selling food in the markets.
Tenant farmers and cottiers payed their rent in potatoes. Many were evicted as they could not pay their rent as they had no more potatoes.

Question 4

British response

Answer 4

Famine roads were build, which led to nowhere but the poor could get money. More workhouses were set up. Indian maize was imported by the British prime minister Robert peel, but they did not teach the Irish how to cook it.

Question 5

Results of the famine

Answer 5

Approximately 1 million people died and 3 million emigrated.
Irish immigrants were forced to live in slum areas like Hell’s Kitchen in New York.
The use of the Irish language was greatly reduced.
Subdivision came to an end, so the father had to give his land to his eldest son, which made his other sons emigrate.