The Great Irish Famine
In Our Time
BBC
4.6 • 9.9K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2019
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why the potato crop failures in the 1840s had such a catastrophic impact in Ireland. It is estimated that one million people died from disease or starvation after the blight and another two million left the country within the decade. There had been famines before, but not on this scale. What was it about the laws, attitudes and responses that made this one so devastating?
The image above is from The Illustrated London News, Dec. 29, 1849, showing a scalp or shelter, "a hole, surrounded by pools, and three sides of the scalp were dripping with water, which ran in small streams over the floor and out by the entrance. The poor inhabitants said they would be thankful if the landlord would leave them there, and the Almighty would spare their lives. Its principal tenant is Margaret Vaughan."
With
Cormac O'Grada Professor Emeritus in the School of Economics at University College Dublin
Niamh Gallagher University Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History at the University of Cambridge
And
Enda Delaney Professor of Modern History and School Director of Research at the University of Edinburgh
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:07.3 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website, |
| 0:09.5 | and you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter |
| 0:12.8 | at BBC In Our Time. I hope you enjoy the programs. |
| 0:16.8 | Hello, in 1845, the potato crop failed in Ireland, |
| 0:19.7 | struck by a blight which came from North America. |
| 0:22.3 | Over 3 million people depended on the potato, |
| 0:24.8 | or third of the population, and within a few years, |
| 0:27.3 | a million of them were dead, at least a million migrated, |
| 0:30.5 | and more were to follow. The numbers aren't precise, |
| 0:33.4 | but convey something of the scale of the disaster that fell |
| 0:36.8 | on so many of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| 0:40.3 | than the world's leading economy. That being found in this before, |
| 0:44.0 | but this was made worse by a succession of bad harvest, |
| 0:46.8 | and by the Westminster Government not providing enough relief. |
| 0:50.0 | We'd mean to discuss the great Irish famine, |
| 0:52.8 | and a delaney, Professor of Modern History and School Director of Research |
| 0:56.2 | at the University of Edinburgh, |
| 0:57.8 | Nive Gallahe, University Lecture in Modern British and Irish History at the University of Cambridge |
| 1:02.3 | and Phillips and Cathamines College, |
| 1:04.1 | and Comma Cograda, Professor Emeritus in the School of Economics |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.