The Three Years' Famine

The Irish Catholics, who comprised an immense majority of the country, had long felt it a bitter grievance that they were forced to pay for the support of the Protestant church. Under the law, every Irishman was compelled to pay his tithe, or the tenth part of his cattle, to maintain the Protestant bishops, clergy, and sacred edifices. The wretched condition of the country now drove the peasants into a stubborn resistance to this tax. The "tithe proctors," as the agents who collected the tithe were called, were utterly hated, and were often subjected to violence.

Many of the cattle seized for tithes were maimed or killed; nor did any one dare to buy the cattle so seized, when they were put up at auction, for fear of the vengeance of the peasants. A large force of soldiers had to be used to enforce the collection of these tithes. At last, in the first year of the reign of Victoria, a law was passed by which the peasants, or tenants, were relieved of the payment of tithes, which were now imposed upon the landlords (1838). But this did not always prove a benefit to the tenants; for the landlords, in many cases, raised their rents so as to cover the amount of the tithes.

A short time before, two reforms relating to Ireland had been adopted, and had proved of benefit to the country. One was the establishment of a system of elementary schools; the other, the reduction of the number of Protestant bishops, by which the cost of the established church was considerably lessened. In the same year that the tithes were transferred to the landlords, occurred the great temperance revival in Ireland, led by the ardent, eloquent young priest, Father Mathew; in the course of which nearly two hundred thousand Irish subscribed to the pledge not to drink any intoxicating liquors. The results of this revival upon crime in Ireland, and upon the habits and condition of the people, were most beneficent.

It was while Father Mathew was stirring the popular heart with his fervent appeals in behalf of temperance, that Daniel O'Connell entered upon his second great agitation,—that to dissolve the union of the Parliaments, and to restore the old "Grattan's" Parliament (I838). In doing this, he pursued the same methods which he had so successfully used in bringing about the political emancipation of the Catholics. O'Connell's first step was to form a "Repeal Association," similar to the "Catholic Association" which had done such effective work. In no long time the society had grown into a numerous and enthusiastic body. It was mainly composed of the middle and lower classes, and there were many more Catholics than Protestants in its ranks. Yet it contained many Protestants, and many well-educated young men of both creeds joined the movement. O'Connell was the leading spirit. He organized monster meetings in Ireland at which he declaimed about the wrongs of the land, recalled the cruelties, tyrannies, and miseries of the past, and wrought the people up to a high pitch of excitement. Money flowed into the coffers of the society. The English government at first tolerated the repeal meetings, in the hope that the agitation would in time cease. But as it became more alarming and formidable, the ministry resolved to suppress the gatherings of the association.

It was announced that a great repeal meeting would take place at Clontarf (the scene of the decisive conflict between the Irish and the Danes) on October 8 (I843). O'Connell and other repeal chiefs were to be present, and address the multitude. The English ministry issued a proclamation forbidding the meeting. The more ardent repealers insisted that the government should be defied, and that the meeting should be held in spite of its prohibition. But O'Connell, who was always opposed to the use of physical force in aiming to obtain Irish rights, declared that the proclamation must be obeyed. The Clontarf meeting was not held. O'Connell and eight of his lieutenants were arrested, and tried for treason. They were at first convicted by a packed jury; but their decision was overruled by the House of Lords, and O'Connell and his companions were set free. The success .of the government in vigorously dealing with the repeal agitation gave that agitation its death-blow. O'Connell's popularity with the Irish masses rapidly waned. The cause of repeal was abandoned by many of its former leaders; and in a short time was followed by another Irish agitation, which had an altogether different end in view.

But before a new struggle was to take place on behalf of Irish liberty, the island was doomed to a terrible calamity. A famine, more extensive and devastating than had ever before desolated the Irish people, spread through the land. Once more wet and chilly seasons caused repeated failures of the potato crop (1845-47). A winter of dreadful distress among the poor peasantry ensued. Thousands were unable to pay their rent; and when the landlords, as was the case in many instances, tried to force them to pay it, they resorted, in their desperation, to violence and outrage. The government made several efforts to relieve the distress of the Irish. The corn-laws, which placed a high duty on bread-stuffs, were repealed. Large sums were voted to employ the starving people as laborers on the building of roads and public buildings. At one time, more than seven hundred thousand men were thus provided with work. Yet the second year of the famine was worse than the first. The abolition of the corn-laws did not bring the expected relief to Ireland; nor did the large employment of men on public works suffice to supply the starving families with sufficient food to keep them alive.

It is a strange and startling fact that at this very time, when thousands of families were utterly famished, Ireland was sending abroad more shiploads of wheat and other grain and provisions, than any country in the world. There was plenty of food; but it was beyond the reach of the poor, rent-ridden, hungry Irish peasants. Other sufferings were soon added to that of famine. The wretched huts, the miserably scant clothing of the peasants, exposed them mercilessly to cold storms and winds. Fevers and other contagious disorders spread rapidly among the villages and farming-districts. Men, women, and children died daily by hundreds, often breathing their last breath by the road-side, in the ditches, or in the fields among the blighted potato crops. Charitable societies and committees were formed for the purpose of supplying, as far as possible, food for the starving multitude. Cooked provisions were energetically distributed by these societies and the more humane landlords. But the calamity proved too wide-spread to be checked by any exertion that was or could be made.

One important result of this terrible and long-continued famine was to drive many thousands of the Irish to seek homes in other countries. Most of these came across the Atlantic to Canada and the United States. One hundred thousand landed, in one year, in Canada alone. Many of the emigrants were emaciated, and stricken with disease. Large numbers died on shipboard, or soon after their arrival in America. In a less degree the tide of emigration carried many of the Irish into England. When the famine began, the population of Ireland had comprised eight millions of people. When, at last, the frightful scourge had spent its force, the population of Ireland had been reduced, by death and emigration, to less than six millions. The country had lost two millions of its people. The severity of many of the landlords, and the "coercion" laws which Parliament had passed to suppress the desperate acts of the peasants during the period of the famine, rekindled the hatred of England in Irish breasts. The famine thus prepared the Irish for the next movement for trying to throw off the English yoke altogether.