https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/en-ieRTÉ 2026-RTÉ Commercial Enterprises Ltd, Registration No: 155076, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland.Fri, 02 Feb 2024 15:03:51 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2024/0131/1429737-the-famine-casebook-of-william-charles-waddell/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 explainsWed, 31 Jan 2024 16:41:50 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2024/0131/1429737-the-famine-casebook-of-william-charles-waddell/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2023/1205/1420245-revisiting-the-coffin-ships-emigrant-mortality-during-the-famine/Over two million Irish people emigrated abroad between 1845 and 1855. But did they all sail on so-called "coffin ships"? Cian T. McMahon uses the surviving statistics to find out.Tue, 05 Dec 2023 11:50:51 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2023/1205/1420245-revisiting-the-coffin-ships-emigrant-mortality-during-the-famine/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0527/1301549-how-famine-workhouses-tore-families-apart/Fri, 27 May 2022 11:26:21 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0527/1301549-how-famine-workhouses-tore-families-apart/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0511/1297404-how-subdividing-farms-led-to-famine-devastation/Wed, 11 May 2022 14:32:44 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0511/1297404-how-subdividing-farms-led-to-famine-devastation/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2022/0407/1290984-a-letter-from-the-irish-famine/Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:04:41 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2022/0407/1290984-a-letter-from-the-irish-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0331/1289607-what-happened-to-children-during-the-famine/Thu, 31 Mar 2022 15:11:23 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0331/1289607-what-happened-to-children-during-the-famine/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0315/1286635-how-did-artists-depict-the-famine/Tue, 15 Mar 2022 16:25:13 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/2022/0315/1286635-how-did-artists-depict-the-famine/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2021/1006/1251136-the-famine-monologues-the-emigrants-story/The Emigrant's Story is the final episode in a new drama series inspired by the real people who lived through the Famine. Author Anna Carey reveals how you can find out more about the true events that inspired it.Wed, 06 Oct 2021 15:37:03 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2021/1006/1251136-the-famine-monologues-the-emigrants-story/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2021/0918/1246497-the-famine-monologues-the-british-officials-story/The British Official's Story is the third in a new drama series inspired by the real people who lived through the Famine. Author Anna Carey reveals how you can find out more about the true events that inspired it.Sat, 18 Sep 2021 01:24:22 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/the-great-irish-famine/2021/0918/1246497-the-famine-monologues-the-british-officials-story/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2021/0813/1240647-the-distress-papers-dying-in-the-streets/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.Fri, 13 Aug 2021 11:01:53 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2021/0813/1240647-the-distress-papers-dying-in-the-streets/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2021/0730/1238230-the-distress-papers-a-letter-from-trevelyan/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.Fri, 30 Jul 2021 13:21:20 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2021/0730/1238230-the-distress-papers-a-letter-from-trevelyan/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/2021/0603/1225835-the-distress-papers-a-road-to-nowhere/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.Thu, 03 Jun 2021 13:37:45 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/2021/0603/1225835-the-distress-papers-a-road-to-nowhere/Historyhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0329/1206839-the-distress-papers/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.Mon, 29 Mar 2021 16:26:22 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0329/1206839-the-distress-papers/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0329/1206836-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.Mon, 29 Mar 2021 16:16:21 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0329/1206836-the-distress-papers-the-desperation-of-the-cottiers/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0329/1206843-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.Mon, 29 Mar 2021 16:40:56 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0329/1206843-the-distress-papers-the-threat-of-public-disturbance/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0317/1204585-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.Wed, 17 Mar 2021 17:52:02 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0317/1204585-the-distress-papers-report-of-the-potato-crop-failure/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0309/1202960-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.Tue, 09 Mar 2021 16:07:12 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0309/1202960-the-distress-papers-cloyne-relief-committee-seeks-help/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0303/1200807-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.Wed, 03 Mar 2021 17:15:16 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0303/1200807-the-distress-papers-a-desperate-petition/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0303/1200805-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 importantWed, 03 Mar 2021 16:58:33 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0303/1200805-what-we-learn-from-the-distress-papers-in-the-national-archives/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0302/1200444-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 refugeTue, 02 Mar 2021 15:11:33 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0302/1200444-dublin-city-during-the-great-famine-explore-the-map/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0217/1197633-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 disasterWed, 17 Feb 2021 10:44:54 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0217/1197633-dreadful-visitation-lurgan-poor-law-union-during-the-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0128/1193691-how-the-temporary-fever-act-failed-to-stop-an-epidemic/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 explainsThu, 28 Jan 2021 16:20:43 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0128/1193691-how-the-temporary-fever-act-failed-to-stop-an-epidemic/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0126/1192184-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 happenedTue, 26 Jan 2021 16:52:55 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0126/1192184-the-great-famine-and-the-imposition-of-income-tax-in-ireland/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0113/1189442-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.Wed, 13 Jan 2021 11:06:41 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0113/1189442-forgotten-victims-the-children-found-in-kilkenny-workhouse-grave/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0113/1189540-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.Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:15:24 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0113/1189540-lost-generation-children-and-the-workhouse-during-the-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0805/1157526-that-diabolical-system-evictions-in-famine-ireland/Up to half a million people lost their homes during the Great Famine. Who carried out and documented those evictions, and what happened to the evicted?Wed, 05 Aug 2020 16:30:23 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0805/1157526-that-diabolical-system-evictions-in-famine-ireland/https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0111/1188894-19th-century-in-colour-an-irish-labourer-in-the-1850s/Matt Loughrey's My Colorful Past project bridges "the gap between history and art", using digital techniques to add colour to monochrome images.Mon, 11 Jan 2021 09:55:22 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2021/0111/1188894-19th-century-in-colour-an-irish-labourer-in-the-1850s/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1116/1178464-how-the-blight-spread-an-interactive-map/It was the potato disease that devastated Ireland. But how did it get here? This interactive map shows how the blight spread.Mon, 16 Nov 2020 12:55:20 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1116/1178464-how-the-blight-spread-an-interactive-map/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1116/1178493-how-victorian-artists-depicted-the-famine/How was the famine portrayed in art in the 19th century by both Irish and international artists? Emily Mark-Fitzgerald tells how the Famine was depicted in everything from cartoons to oil paintingsMon, 16 Nov 2020 14:24:21 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1116/1178493-how-victorian-artists-depicted-the-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1123/1180004-a-policy-to-disaster-british-famine-relief-measures/Why did British governments fail so catastrophically to respond effectively to the Great Famine? Peter Gray on why the relief measures in Ireland were so ineffective.Mon, 23 Nov 2020 17:20:20 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1123/1180004-a-policy-to-disaster-british-famine-relief-measures/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1116/1178533-a-labour-of-love-the-contributions-of-the-society-of-friends/When the blight devastated Ireland, one group was particularly determined to help: the Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends. Christine Kinealy tells the story of their work - and the toll it took on themMon, 16 Nov 2020 17:20:00 +0000https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/1116/1178533-a-labour-of-love-the-contributions-of-the-society-of-friends/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0921/1166563-hunger-will-break-through-a-wall-food-riots-during-the-famine/The people of Ireland were starving in the 1840s - and they didn't accept this state of affairs, as James Kelly explainsMon, 21 Sep 2020 14:57:17 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0921/1166563-hunger-will-break-through-a-wall-food-riots-during-the-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0917/1165825-their-own-wickedness-how-the-british-press-reported-the-famine/In 1846 The Economist magazine declared that Irish distress was "brought on by their own wickedness and folly". Such attitudes were not uncommon in the British media during and after the Famine, as Niamh Gallagher explains.Thu, 17 Sep 2020 15:07:32 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0917/1165825-their-own-wickedness-how-the-british-press-reported-the-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0831/1162378-hidden-heroes-women-and-the-great-famine/They were victims of the famine - but also care-givers, aid workers and observers. Christine Kinealy tells their storyMon, 31 Aug 2020 16:56:52 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0831/1162378-hidden-heroes-women-and-the-great-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0820/1160364-asenath-nicholson-the-american-who-described-the-great-famine/She was an American Quaker who would write one of the most powerful first hand accounts of the Famine. Maureen Murphy tells how Asenath Nicholson bore witness, offered help and challenged the status quo.Thu, 20 Aug 2020 17:04:36 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0820/1160364-asenath-nicholson-the-american-who-described-the-great-famine/Famine Irelandhttps://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0810/1158380-this-land-of-sorrows-the-poor-law-extension-act-1847/Sir John Russell's policy in Ireland, exemplified by the the Poor Law Extension Act 8 June 1847, led to over a million excess deaths. The Act was intended to spark social and economic regeneration. Instead it led to a horrific humanitarian crisisMon, 10 Aug 2020 14:33:00 +0100https://www.rte.ie/history/famine-ireland/2020/0810/1158380-this-land-of-sorrows-the-poor-law-extension-act-1847/