famine-ireland

What a coroner's casebook tells us about Famine deaths

During the Famine, the work of coroners could expose the failures of government. With their stories of death by starvation and exposure, the casebooks of Monaghan coroner William Charles Waddell do just that, as Michelle McGoff-McCann explains

A letter from the Irish Famine

The Distress Papers: the growing anger of the people

The Distress Papers in the National Archives of Ireland give us a glimpse of the people and stories behind the grim statistics. In this series, we explore the collection.

The Distress Papers: the desperation of the cottiers

The Distress Papers in the National Archives of Ireland give us a glimpse of the people and stories behind the grim statistics. In this series, we explore the collection.

The Distress Papers: the threat of public disturbance

The Distress Papers in the National Archives of Ireland give us a glimpse of the people and stories behind the grim statistics. In this series, we explore the collection.

The Distress Papers: report of the potato crop failure

The Distress Papers in the National Archives of Ireland give us a glimpse of the people and stories behind the grim statistics. In this series, we explore the collection.

The Distress Papers: Cloyne Relief Committee seeks help

The Distress Papers in the National Archives of Ireland give us a glimpse of the people and stories behind the grim statistics. In this series, we explore the collection.

The Distress Papers: a desperate petition

The Distress Papers in the National Archives of Ireland give us a glimpse of the people and stories behind the grim statistics. In this series, we explore the collection.

What we learn from the Distress Papers in the National Archives

The Distress Papers held in the National Archives offer an incredible insight into the reality of life in Ireland during the Famine. Archivist Elizabeth McEvoy explains what the collection contains, and why it's so important

Dublin City during the Great Famine: explore the map

Dublin didn't face the same horrors as Connacht and Munster but its streets and workhouses were full of desperate people. This map shows where they took refuge

'Dreadful visitation': Lurgan Poor Law Union during the Famine

Before the Famine the area around Lurgan had been "prosperous and thriving" - but its workhouse saw some of the highest death rates in the country. Gerard MacAtasney on how bad management led to disaster

How the Temporary Fever Act failed to stop epidemics

Infectious disease was the single biggest cause of death during the Famine. The Temporary Fever Act of 1846 was an attempt to combat an epidemic - but with little success, as Helene O'Keefe explains

The Great Famine and the imposition of Income Tax in Ireland

When income tax was extended to Ireland for the first time in 1853, many saw it as the most powerful nation in the world in the mid-nineteenth century asking the Irish to pay for their starvation. Peter Clarke explains what happened

Forgotten victims: the children found in Kilkenny Workhouse grave

The discovery of a mass grave in Kilkenny in 2005 told a tragic Famine story, as Jonny Geber explains. This article includes potentially distressing images.

Lost generation: children and the workhouse during the Famine

Tens of thousands of children ended up in workhouses during the Famine - and conditions there were grim, as Gerard Moran explains. This piece contains images that may be distressing.