The Great Famine: The visitation of God?
History Ireland Hedge School with Kevin Whelan, Meredith Meagher, William Smyth & Tim Pat Coogan. Chaired by History Ireland editor Tommy Graham
What were the factors that led to the Great Famine of the 1840s? Was catastrophe inevitable? According to Young Irelander John Mitchel, God may have sent the potato blight, but the English created the famine. How does that assertion stand up to recent scholarship? What could have been done, and what was done, to alleviate distress? To what extent were the Irish victims of economic (laissez-faire capitalism) and religious (providentialism) dogmas? This History Ireland Hedge School addresses these key questions.
Recorded at Dublin Castle, Printworks venue on 26th September 2013.