About this Site: Someone recently asked why we use the word Famine in the name of this site. It is a fair question. Famines are generally thought of as periods where there is not enough food in the region affected. The result is starvation, economic and chaos, sometimes leading to a total breakdown in the social fabric. In 1845, Ireland experienced a potato crop failure that caused hardship; however, Ireland continued to produce significant quantities of food during this period. However, it was all exported. Exporting food was far more profitable than making it available to the starving locals. If we look into this topic just a little, we must conclude that the suffering of our ancestors was caused by something far more horrible than crop failure. Indeed, the policy response to the crop failure was so horrific, historian Tim Pat Coogan terms it ‘genocide.’ See: timpatcoogan/books/famine_plot.htm So, why do we use the word Famine in the name of this site? The reason is simple: to avoid confusion. The Irish government; academics and a host of other entities use that label, and as such, it refers to the horrors suffered by the Irish during the years 1844-1851. So, while famine is not correct, most know what the label refers to. I think the greater problem we face is indifference of the Irish diaspora. There are seventy, perhaps eighty million people worldwide who trace their roots back to Ireland. The great majority of these people have little knowledge of the horrors, and ignore it. “Long ago and far away.’ We want ALL of them to acknowledge the horrors of the 1840’s. If we can get enough people involved, we will be able to develop a better label. Until then, we will continue to use the term “Irish Famine.” We ask you to pause for one minute on Commemoration Day, May 10. We also ask that you “LIKE” the Let Ireland Remember page here on Facebook; and, PLEASE ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME. We must involve everyone who traces Irish roots. Link to: Let Ireland Remember: https://facebook/LetIrelandRemember ***** References: the most extensive resource on Facebook about this period is to be found on: Irish Holocaust --Not Famine: The Push to educate in facts https://facebook/pages/Irish-Holocaust-Not-Famine-The-Push-to-educate-in-facts/95407379904 *****
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 13:59:28 +0000
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