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The Great Irish Famine

Act of God or Acts of Man

Hear the real facts about the Irish Famine. Presented by William B. Rogers, Ph.D. from Drew University.

Many historians believe that the Famine (1845-1852) known as The Great Hunger or An Gorta Mor in Irish, is the defining event in all of Irish history. While this claim may be debatable, there can be no doubt that the Famine had profound effects on Ireland, Britain and the United States. When the potato blight struck in 1845, the population of Ireland was over 8 million. By the time the Famine “ended” seven years later, the population was about 5 million, with parts of the west of Ireland nearly totally depopulated. Of the three million, over a million died and the rest emigrated to England, America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many other nations around the world.  The Potato Famine has been included in the New Jersey State curriculum on genocide and Holocaust because some see a clear record of government complicity in this tragedy.

This program seeks to explore the causes of the Famine, to discover why hundreds of thousands starved while tons of food was exported to England and Europe, to look at the long-range impact of the Famine on Ireland and America, and to engage the profound question of whether or not this horrible event can be properly classified as genocide as defined in the modern period. 

Will you need a special accommodation? If so, please contact the library and provide at least two weeks notice prior to the event date and the library will make every effort to honor all requests. Thereafter, requests will still be considered and may have less of a chance of being honored.

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