" So political
and economic conditions combined to feed the discontent of a people
peculiarly sensitive to wrongs and swift in their resentments.
But the most potent cause of the great Irish influx into America was
famine in Ireland. The economist may well ascribe Irish failure to the
potato. Here was a crop so easy of culture and of such nourishing
qualities that it led to overpopulation and all its attendant ills.
The failure of this crop was indeed an "overwhelming disaster," for,
according to Justin McCarthy, the Irish peasant with his wife and his
family lived on the potato, and whole generations grew up, lived,
married, and passed away without ever having tasted meat. When the
cold and damp summer of 1845 brought the potato rot, the little,
overpopulated island was facing dire want. But when the next two years
brought a plant disease that destroyed the entire crop, then famine
and fever claimed one quarter of the eight million inhabitants. The
pitiful details of this national disaster touched American hearts.
Fleets of relief ships were sent across from America, and many a
shipload of Irish peasants was brought back. In 1845 over 44,821 came;
1847 saw this number rise to 105,536 and in the next year to 112,934.
Rebellion following the famine swelled the number of immigrants until
Ireland was left a land of old people with a fast shrinking
population.
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