Irish Eviction

The Irish Famine was a disaster for the people of Ireland. Forced to live on marginal land, the people of Ireland had become dangerously dependent on this single crop. Europe was already suffering from poor harvests for corn and wheat which only exacerbated the famine when the potato blight arrived. It did not help that British reaction to the famine was soon as wholly inadequate. Vested interests sought to continue protection for their farms and crops in England. Others believed that the market would resolve the situation and that the British government should not intervene further. The result was starvation for millions of Irish people. Those who could manage to do so gathered enough money to pay the passage to England, America or the colonies like Canada or Australia. Many were forcibly evicted from their homes and forced to enter workhouses. This was a disaster that forever alienated large parts of Irish sentiment from British rule.