Black '47: A Story of Ireland's Great Famine - A Graphic Novel

by Damien Goodfellow

A gritty graphic novel about Ireland's Great Hunger. Jack and his family have been evicted by their landlord and given one way tickets to the USA. They refuse to leave Ireland, unknowingly placing themselves in grave peril. When Jack falls in with a rebel group, his father is killed and Jack and his family are left to fend for themselves in a Ireland during the famine in 1847.

This is one family's story of Ireland's great hunger told in powerful illustration and compelling words. This graphic novel brings the suffering and immediacy of the Irish Famine.

Following on from the success of political graphic novels this is accessible, informative and insightful history at its best.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Historical, Comics, Irish Literature

96 pages, Paperback

Published April 29, 2019

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was really abrupt—it would have been interesting to know what Jack and Flor did upon reaching New York—but still a good illustration of the hardships of the famine.

[Júlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Für Regional Studies Scotland and North Ireland mit Don Lowman gelesen.
Ich fand das Format des Comics unhändlich und unpraktisch. Inhaltlich fand ich es gut, die Zeichnungen sind farblich auch dem Thema gut angepasst und geben so ne graue, negative und schlechte Atmosphere wieder, die zur Handlung passt.

[Gabriel Tamaș · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story of uprooting and holding dear to one's heritage despite the hardhsips. And again a good alegory on how the younger generations can cross theboundry of heritage and tradition (although not easily), showcasing the exact attitude and drive of the ones that departed to the New World.

A good overview of modern Age Irish culture can br drawn from this graphic novel, as well as a better understanding of the horrible year that 1847 was for Eire.

Artwork is good, although the struggle to have an unique style sometimes falls flat, especislly when it comes to illustrating facial exprssions crucial to the story. Other than that, the novel is an overall great read which I wholeheartedly recommand.

[Mima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hurja tarina yhden perheen elämästä Irlannin pahimpien nälkävuosien pyörteessä vuonna 1847. Dynaaminen piirrosjälki sopi aiheeseen ja toi hahmot lähelle. Vuonna 2019 Dublinin matkalla pääsin näkemään patsaat jotka oli tehty juuri tämän nälkävuosien muistoksi Liffey-joen rantaan. Nykypäivän hyväosaisen ihmisen on vaikea nähdä sitä kurjuutta ja totaalista puutetta jota monet kokivat (ja yhä jossainpäin maailmaa kokevat) mutta tällainen muistutus on herättelevä ja puhutteleva teos.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel follows Jack and Flor Tarpey, a couple of kids in the west of Ireland during the Great Famine. The Tarpey family is poor, but their father refuses tickets to American from the Anglo-Irish landlord Smyth because he's determined to stay in Ireland. But when Jack is recruited into a rebel group who attack Smyth's house, Jack gets hold of the tickets and the family leaves after his father is hanged because the authorities believe he was part of the raid. On the voyage, Jack and his family pass through Dublin and Liverpool before embarking for New York, finding poverty, homelessness, and anti-Irish prejudice potent forces. During the trip to New York, their mother dies of pneumonia (or possibly cholera) and cholera spreads through the third class spaces, which the captain then quarantines, locking the Irish passengers in the hold (except to bring up the dead once a day and pitch them over the side). All in all, this is a pretty ghastly tale of one of the most brutal periods in Irish history.
https://youtu.be/knaEb7lk5QQ

[Brian Mulhall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough read, even if it feels very abrupt in sections.