Faces from the Famine: 01
This haunting and haunted face represents just one of the countless people who suffered during Ireland’s Great Famine in the 19th century.
It’s part of the Famine Memorial, created by Rowan Gillespie, to be found on the quayside in Dublin. It’s true to say that no event in its history has had a greater effect on Ireland than the Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1849. During that time more than a million men, women and children died from starvation and disease, and a further 1.5 million emigrated.
The Great Famine was caused by a natural event – potato blight, a kind of fungus. The double-edged problem was that the particular strain of potato in Ireland was weak, and the poor people of the country relied on it as a basic crop – it was the only thing they could afford. The result was catastrophic, causing the population to fall by as much as a quarter.
At the time, the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, which was then the richest country in the world – and the government in London did little if anything to alleviate the disaster in its own territory. Indeed, crops such as oats and wheat, as well as livestock, were exported from Ireland while the population was on its knees. As a result, deep resentment set in among the people, and the long-smouldering tinders of nationalism were reignited.
The emaciated life-sized human figures on the quay at Dublin stand as a stark reminder of those terrible, callous and shameful days of colonial history.
Faces from the Famine: 01
This haunting and haunted face represents just one of the countless people who suffered during Ireland’s Great Famine in the 19th century.
It’s part of the Famine Memorial, created by Rowan Gillespie, to be found on the quayside in Dublin. It’s true to say that no event in its history has had a greater effect on Ireland than the Famine, which lasted from 1845 to 1849. During that time more than a million men, women and children died from starvation and disease, and a further 1.5 million emigrated.
The Great Famine was caused by a natural event – potato blight, a kind of fungus. The double-edged problem was that the particular strain of potato in Ireland was weak, and the poor people of the country relied on it as a basic crop – it was the only thing they could afford. The result was catastrophic, causing the population to fall by as much as a quarter.
At the time, the whole of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, which was then the richest country in the world – and the government in London did little if anything to alleviate the disaster in its own territory. Indeed, crops such as oats and wheat, as well as livestock, were exported from Ireland while the population was on its knees. As a result, deep resentment set in among the people, and the long-smouldering tinders of nationalism were reignited.
The emaciated life-sized human figures on the quay at Dublin stand as a stark reminder of those terrible, callous and shameful days of colonial history.