Liam's Irish Traditional Music - Irelands culture and tradition

Agricultural labourers in Ireland survived on the production of potatoes. This root crop had been introduced into Europe in the seventeenth century, and had flourished in Ireland. There were many benefits for the people. Potatoes were easy to grow, they put minerals into the soil, and, because they grew underground, they were less easy to destroy in times of civil unrest. Potatoes could support a much larger number of people per acre than other crops, they prevented scurvy, which was endemic among the European poor, and could be used as animal fodder. Relying on only one crop had its dangers. If the potato crop failed, there was no alternative food for the Irish people. This is what occurred between 1845 and 1849.

Visitors to Ireland had always remarked on two aspects of agricultural life. One was the actual fertility of the land, which was capable of maintaining a high level of production. The other was the poverty of Irish agricultural labourers, and the miserable conditions in which they lived. Such conditions were not unusual in Europe at this time, but in Ireland between 1800 and 1845 there had been a vast population explosion which, had doubled the number of people to be fed. Population figures rose from approximately four and a half million to eight million over a period of forty years. The 1841 census gave the population of Ireland as 8,175,124.

The plots of land on which people survived were small, and any cereal crops, which were grown, were sold to pay the enormously high rents demanded by landlords. Secret societies called Land Leagues had been formed to fight "rack-renting" and eviction. They organized the people in a locality to resist high rents and subsequent eviction for non-payment.

In some areas the Land Leagues had strong leaders and real power. They could prevent others from taking land left vacant after an eviction and so the landlord was unable to collect rent and was forced to reconsider his decision. In the later part of the nineteenth century the Land Leagues grew much stronger, until there was open was between landowner and tenants over rents and security of tenure. However, on a national level, the Leagues were not a successful movement, as they lacked political organization.

The British government, which had the means to stop the distress, chose laissez‑faire policies instead. This meant that it would not interfere with the natural progress of society. Both politicians and landlords in Ireland accepted poverty as a necessary evil, and the threat of famine as part of nature’s remedy for an over-populated country.