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This account of the events that occurred during the Great Irish Famine is well-written, and true to the history of this horrendous episode in Irish history. When potatoes, the main source of food for the Irish, became infested with a terrible and quick-spreading blight, the Irish rapidly ran out of food and this brought with it a long chain of tragedies in the years that followed. The exact number of people that were affected by this is unknown, but it can without a doubt be said that it is in the millions. This plague affected about 80% of Ireland�s population, not to mention those living around the starving beggars. The book gives detailed accounts, many told through the eyes of the suffering Irish, and other anecdotes told by those who survived. Much of the information is poignant and shocking. It is said that entire families died in their homes, or by the side of the road while looking for something to eat. Parents, children, and the elderly were seen begging for food often wearing little clothing due to the fact that some of their garments had already been sold in order to obtain something to eat. Expectant mothers often gave birth to stillborn babies in result of their malnutrition. As people got hungrier, they became more daring in their attempts to get food. Often, they would commit crimes in order to get thrown into jail, where they were guaranteed meals. Riots were often formed and they would try to break into bakeries and other establishments where they could get their hands on food. Men would get together and go in search of cattle, where once found, they would corner a cow to get some of its blood for cooking. Others would wait until nightfall and as soon as the owner had gone to bed, they would steal the tails of the cattle which they would roast. Eventually dogs, cats, horses, and other animals were also hunted and eaten by those in need.
Victims were dying much too fast for there to be a proper burial for them. Many were simply dumped unceremoniously in a large pit. Due to the vast amount of people suffering from malnutrition, disease began to spread rapidly and both humans and animals suffered the consequences. It is believed that �ten times as many people died from disease than from hunger during the Famine years.� It is said that the reason for this was because starving people would eat anything, regardless of its conditions. People would even eat the carcasses of animals they would find. One woman shared that once, when a neighbor had buried two pigs who had died of cholera, they recovered the bodies and took them home to eat. Likewise, when people passed away by the side of the road, starving dogs came by and fed on the diseased bodies. In turn, the dogs were hunted and eaten by starving people, which only made matters worse. It was a vicious circle of starvation and disease. The book states that the main diseases during this time were �typhoid fever, relapsing fever, cholera, and dysentery� some of which spread very easily through the hundreds of lice the beggars carried.
It is truly amazing to learn that the Irish suffered this many hardships and never lost hope, and although it is difficult to see the good in this, we can say that situations such as these teach us to be more open and sympathetic to hunger, poverty and human suffering. This book is an excellent record of all the accounts, and a reminder of the tragedy that struck the Irish over 150 years ago.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2001. Black potatoes: the story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845
1850. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0618-00271-5. |
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