A Death Dealing Famine

Examines the historiography of the Irish Famine and its relevance now, in the context of the longer-term relationship between England and Ireland. Famine expert Christine Kinealy examines the influences that shaped the responses to the Famine of 1845-52. The key factors she analyses include political ideologies; providentialist ideas that read the potato blight as a judgement from God; opportunistic interpretations; the role of civil servants, Irish landlords and merchants.