The Great Irish Famine The Thomas Davis Lecture Series.

by Cathal (ed.) Poirteir

This is the most wide-ranging series of essays ever published on the Great Irish Famine and will prove of lasting interest to the general reader. Leading historians, economists, geographers - from Ireland, Britain and the United States - have assembled the most up-to-date research from a wide spectrum of disciplines including medicine, folklore and literature, to give the fullest account yet of the background and consequences of the famine. Contributors include Dr Kevin Whelan, Professor Mary Daly, Professor James Donnelly and Professor Cormac O Grada. The Great Irish Famine is the first major series of essays of the famine to be published in Ireland for almost fifty years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ireland

Paperback

First published September 1, 1995

Reviews

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of essays by the leading voices in famine historiography. Placing the famine in layers of context is a key theme of this book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Famine is one of the most significant events in Irish history, and one which defies summarization in a single narrative. This series of essays, commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the potato blight in the summer of 1845, is an excellent introduction.

As it says on the back cover:

'Leading historians, economists, geographers - from Ireland, Britain and the United States - have assembled the most up-to-date research from a wide spectrum of disciplines, including medicine, folklore and literature, to give a full account of the background and consequences of the Famine.'

As with any such collection, not every essay is a winner. But most are pretty good.

[Ray Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a descendant of Irish immigrant many of whom departed Cobh during the famine. This book delivered what I was looking for: a comprehensive discussion of what happened without overwrought descriptions of suffering. This collection of expert essays describes the core problem-mainly Irish dependency on one staple. But other factors came into play; the British import of hard-to-digest Indian corn,the Poor Laws that withheld relief to landowners and led to their voluntary signing over land and an overall denial by the British. This is a good start to Famine research however other publications surely dig deeper.

[Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of Lectures from various perspepctives. It gives you a synoptic view of the famine.

[Seán Doherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative & scholarly, yet never excessively dry

[loeilecoute · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most difficult famine books to read—all facts and very dry and little effort to make it « a good read....” ?

Nonetheless, what would a ‘good read’ about the Great Famine be? Many of the books I have read captured moments of humanity and spirit that relieved the heavy dominance of inevitable death, fate, and inactivity or lack of action in the face of unbelievable suffering. Can an author write about absolute desolation without losing the reader to the pain and suffering of the topic?

Should I prefer a gentler presentation because it feels better than stark facts? Or is it the responsibility of the author to capture the reader even in the most dire straits and help him find relief that other options seem possible but not chosen.
I don’t know— I only know that this book made me feel much more unhappy with history than many other choices regarding the same historical events. Am I weaker as a person because I prefer to see options in history when I believe they existed? Am I weak and don’t like seeing,feeling, hearing and knowing the pain of the past?

Yet to be revealed.

Factually enlightening—nonetheless a difficult read.

[Marg Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cathal Póirtéir's edited collection emphasizes the links between the Irish Famine of 1845 and Irish popular memory /folk memory. The author's own declaration that historians' emphasis on the Famine as a “neat chronological demarcation afforded to scholars by hindsight and the written record are not the prime concern of the folk record.” This is the event as remembered - not always accurately or chronologically- by those it shaped and their descendants. Very interesting insight into memory and history, especially given that, as Póirtéir's volume conveys, the western seaboard and Gaelic-speaking populace most affected by the famine was often not literate in English

[Susana Duarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, this is not a novel. People are complaining it's not an "easy" read. Well, it's not supposed to be a romance about the Irish Famine. It's a collection of well written essays about several components which directly or indirectly or connected to the 1840's great famine. Some were of course more interesting to me than others (which is normal), and some were more factual based, and others had a little more literary freedom to explore. But I learned a great deal about a subject that I always found interesting, but which I now realise, knew nothing about!
I highly recommend if you're interested in this subject.

[Nikolas Toner]

Nothing wrong with this book but i just read another book about Irish history and this one didn’t catch my attention as much

[Bruce Reiter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thorough discussion of the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. The edited work has the advantage of several authors writing about the facets of the Famine of which they are most interested or familiar. It was an horrific event which cost Ireland at least one million dead and one million emigrants.It is easily readable and none of the articles too complex nor lengthy. Quite frankly, the English and capitalist theory are the major culprits in my mind but the role of evangelical Protestants and the Irish upper class bear blame as well. The book serves as a good source on an historical event that continues to shape Irish culture and politics.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a considered, balance and evocative edited collection. Unusually for books of this type, the chapters and individual research projects do align and connect. There are specific studies of folk memory and the ideology of the famine. But the authors offer a concrete reassessment of the Famine, 150 years after its brutal reality.

This book is a strong starting point for scholars exploring the historiographical shape of the Irish Famine.

[Alejandro Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muestra la historia completa de la Famine desde diferentes perspectivas (política, económica, social, artística etc). En prácticamente todos los capítulos se dan datos númericos que ayudan a entender el tamaño de esta catástrofe.