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This is the old school.

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Intro Kieran, Louise, Adam and Angle      1.

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Intro Kieran, Louise, Adam and Angle      1.

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Today we are going to talk about the famine but in particular the people and their jobs . Also the life they lived.

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1
What was the political situation in the great famine?

The political situation was very bad, because Ireland didn't have their own government and even though a lot of brave Irish people were heard in the English parliament  they wouldn't do anything and to make it even worse they shipped food out of our country to make money themselves.

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What was the population of Ireland?

The population of Ireland was around 8.2 million but these numbers dropped by around 3 million due to deaths and emigrations in the great famine. This is very shocking.

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What caused the great famine?

The potato blight was the main cause of the Great Irish famine; the worst famine of Europe in the 19th century.
At the time, shopkeepers raised the price of food, because they knew that people were starving, and would pay anything for it.

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The current Irish weather conditions are ideal for Potato Blight. Met Éirean have just released an official warning that weather conducive to the spread of potato blight is likely from now until next weekend. Garden expert Paraic Horkan has some invaluable advice on how to prevent and treat this devastating disease.

What are the Causes of Potato Blight:

Potato blight is caused by a fungus called Phytophthora infestans

This affects members of the potato family, including tomatoes.

It spreads through the air and develops when the weather conditions are warm and humid, particularly during a Smith Period.

Any period of warm, humid weather increases blight risk.

Potato blight is caused by a fungus called Phytophthora Infestans. This fungus does not just affect potatoes but can also spread to other members of the potato family, including tomatoes, peppers and aubergines.
Potato blight spreads through the air and develops when weather conditions are warm and humid, particularly during what is known as a Smith Period.
A Smith Period is any 48 hour period where the minimum temperature is 10°C or more and relative humidity exceeds 90% for at least 11 hours during the first 24 hours, and at least 11 hours again during the final 24 hours. This essentially means that infection is dependent on warm, wet weather, much like we're expected to have.

The disease can be spread by wind and water. Wind can carry spores from plant to plant, and water can wash the spores into the soil where it can infect young tubers. Potato blight is very destructive and can wipe out a full crop overnight. In a sack or a crate, it will travel from potato to potato, ruining them all. The Potato Blight fungus is generally killed by cold weather, but there are some rare resistant strains that survive over the winter.

What are the Symptoms of Potato Blight:

Brown freckles of patches on the leaves

Yellowish border spreading from the brown patches

Dark patches on tubers

Inside of the tuber is brown and rotting from the skin down

The potatoes will eventually turn into soggy, foul-smelling masses.

The first thing that you will notice if your plants are infected is brown freckles on the leaves of the potato. Also they may have larger brown patches and a sort of yellowish border spreading from this patch.
In a severe attack, you may find that all the potato foliage has become a rotting mass.
The tubers (the potato itself) are shrunken with dark patches on the skin. If you cut the potato in half, you will see brownish rot spreading down from the skin.

How do I Prevent Potato Blight?

The best way to prevent potato blight is to plant a good blight-resistant variety

Make sure potatoes are well earthed up to prevent spores getting into the tubers

Spray leaves and stems with a preventative treatment such as Bayer Garden Blight Control

Be aware of weather warnings

Check regularly for signs of infection

Prevention is always better than cure and that is definitely true when it comes to potato blight. There are a range of chemical treatments available, but the one Paraic recommends is Bayer Garden Blight Control.
This is a great preventative treatment which is effective against early stages of Phytophthora Infestans. Simply spray all your plants and they will be protected from the blight fungus spores. This is a wonderful product which is rain-fast in just 1 hour. So don't delay and apply immediately.
For the maximum protection, you should spray your crops four times at intervals of 10 days. This will protect the leaves and stalks, and also the tubers from the risk of late blight infection after harvest.
Each 100ml bottle will treat up to 625sqm.

What is the Treatment for Potato Blight?

If only a small number of leaves are affected, you can remove these and dispose of them

Continue to spray with Bayer Garden Blight Control. This can be used up to four times per growing season

If you have a more serious infection, then cut off all the foliage and stems and either compost or burn

Removing the foliage prevents the disease getting into the tubers, as long as they are well covered with earth

Leave the crop alone for at least two weeks to let the blight spores on the surface die and the potatoes develop a thicker skin

After harvest, check regularly for signs of blight and remove any suspect tubers at once from your store

If you have used a blight resistant variety and you have prepared correctly then you should not be affected by potato blight. However if you do notice a small number of infected leaves (with brown patches), you can just remove them. If you have a more serious infection you will need to cut off all the foliage and stems. You should place them in a bucket to stop the infection from spreading and dispose of them in a bin. If it is possible you should burn them. Removing the foliage will also prevent the disease spore getting into the tubers, but this will only be effective if the tubers are well covered with earth. You should cover over any exposed tubers to prevent blight from reaching them. This will also prevent sun and crow damage. Leave the crop for at least two weeks. This will let the blight spores on the surface die and the potatoes develop a thicker skin.

After harvesting, check regularly for signs of blight and remove any suspect tubers at once from your store. Lift the tubers and store in potato sacks in a cool dark area to use over the Autumn and winter period. Ensure you purchase new certified seed potatoes next season as blight can remain active in tubers and can affect next year's crop.

What are some blight resistant potato varieties?

The as a wonderful blight resistant variety

Orla is another great blight resistant variety

, Golden Wonder, Kerr's Pink and Record are all blight resistant

The best way to prevent potato blight is to plant a good blight-resistant variety. The Sarpo Hungarian potato varieties have been developed to be extremely blight resistant. The as a wonderful blight resistant variety; it is floury, well flavoured and a terrific cropper. It is a nice red skinned potato with lovely white flesh. Other blight resistant varieties include , , Golden Wonder, Kerr's Pink and Record.

Please remember to follow instructions carefully when using chemicals.
Photo by Scot Nelson

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The current Irish weather conditions are ideal for Potato Blight. Met Éirean have just released an official warning that weather conducive to the spread of potato blight is likely from now until next weekend. Garden expert Paraic Horkan has some invaluable advice on how to prevent and treat this devastating disease.

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Heather, Anne Marie, Aryn and Paddy.
What they did to solve it:
Contributions arrived in Ireland from countries such as the USA, Canada, India and Russia. Members of the native Americans Choctaw tribe managed to gather $170 which they sent to a famine relief charity.
Last weekend in Co. Cork they unveiled a monument to commemorate the generosity of the Choctaw tribe.

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Anne Marie, Paddy, Heather and Aryn.
The Relief Work:
Sir Robert Peel also set up relief work. This meant that the poorer people were paid to build roads, piers and follies. A folly was a monument with no real value. However, the wages didn't give workers enough money for food. In 1845 no one died of the Famine because they had money.

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By Anne Marie Paddy Aryn and Heather. Soup kitchens.

The Soup Kitchen Act:
In February in 1847 half a million people used soup kitchens. In June it is believed that three million people lived on free soup and around 250,000 died. During the Famine the prices went up rather than down. The shopkeepers gave food on credit ( pay it back over time).

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Cottiers  and Laborers by Keiran, Louise, Adam and Angel    4   

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Cottiers  and Laborers by Keiran, Louise, Adam and Angel    4   

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Cotteirs and Laborers were the poorest of them all.
Instead of them getting a wage they got a plot of land from the farmer.
Laborers were even poorer than Cottiers.
They were never guaranteed  full time work,and often had to travel long journeys for work.

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Tenant Farmers :by Kieran,Louise,Adam and Angel       3.

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Tenant Farmers :by Kieran,Louise,Adam and Angel       3.

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During the Famine a number of farmers managed to rent 10 heaters of land ,these farmers could afford to build houses with 4 to 5 rooms and to send their kids to school.Rows started when the farmer got old and could not farm anymore he had to divide his land up between his sons. Farmers also had to pay Poor Law rates [taxes].

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By Eoghan Eoin  Ryan & Emma
How many people died?

Between one and two million people died in the great famine.Plus one million left Ireland to other countries.

What did they eat during the great famine?

People ate every thing they could find including donkeys, dogs,horses, wild birds, hedgehogs,nettles,berries,mushrooms,nuts and roots.They also bled animals so they could put the blood with any meat they could find.

Poaching was a serious crime back then, poaching was to steal animals from other farms.
If children were caught poaching they would be send of to Australia and Britain.

Emigration
Over 250,000 emigrated just in 1847. They tried to go to America, Britain and Australia.   The had left in boats but a lot of people died on these ships from disease. The ships were called coffin ships because of all the people that died on them. So many people died o them that they had to through the body's overboard.

Disease
There was lots of people dying from disease, 1-2 million actually. Here is some diseases that killed people.
Dysentery-An infection in the intestines that spread through dirty water and food.
Typhus and Yellow fever-A bacterial infection by parasites.
Scurvy- Extreme tiredness in the bones, gums, skin and teeth.
Cholera- A disease that spread rapidly killing more than 20,000 people. It was a very severe case of diarrhea and dehydration.

The Great Famine was one of Ireland's worst times in history.

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Anne Marie, Aryn, Paddy and Heather.
What solved it, what was their reaction and what they were forced to do.

During the famine the government did some things to solve it. Here are a few of the actions they did.
Sir Robert Peel was the Prime Minister at the time of the Famine. In 1846, Sir Robert Peel imported Indian corn to Ireland. He sold it in different places around the country for cheap prices. However, the government didn't know that Irish people had no money. The people who had money didn't know how to cook the corn because they never ate it before. It was so hard that they called it "Peel's Brimstone".

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The Great Famine  by  Kieran,Louise,Adam and Angel.    2. 

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The Great Famine  by  Kieran,Louise,Adam and Angel.    2. 

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Landlords:  During the Great Famine the landlords had their tenants living on rented land owned by the landlord.
Over 80% of the population of Ireland lived in rural areas. Absentee landlords leased their land to the Irish people also they never visited their tenants this is why they were called absentee .