The
Context and Development of Irish Literature:
History, Poetry, Landscape
Chapter
Three: Revolution, Emancipation, Starvation, page 6
The Irish economy, already fragile and ill-managed, was
devastated by the famine, particularly the rural, peasant
classes in the west. The population continued to
decline, going from roughly 8 million just before the famine
to only 4 million by the turn of the century. By far the bulk
of these emigrants came to the U.S., and during this time the
Irish American population, one of the most formidable ethnic
groups in U.S. history, began to form. (For an excellent study
of the Irish in America, see Lawrence McCaffrey's classic
The Irish Catholic Diaspora in America, 1997). This population was,
understandably, greatly embittered against Britain, and this
anger would influence American political relations to Ireland
and England throughout the 19th and 20th
centuries.
The Great Famine, in addition to the economic and social
devastation of the Irish population, increased in the Irish
mind a deep-seated anger toward the entire system of British
government in Ireland. (Lady Gregory, herself a product of the
Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy, would say later in her
life: "I defy anyone to study Irish history without
getting a dislike and distrust of England.") From this
time forward, Irish Nationalism takes on a bitter and more
violent edge, for it now became clear to many that Ireland
would slowly perish under British rule, and that Britain would
allow this to happen. Thus, as the 19th
century moved toward the 20th, Irish proto-military
groups such as the Fenians or Irish Republican Brotherhood are
formed, led by James Stephens, alongside groups like the Irish
Land League, led by Michael Davitt and seeking reform of the
outrageously unequal distribution and ownership of land. But
none of these groups, and none of their leaders, could match
the charisma and leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell,
who rose to power in the mid-1870's and soon was the dominant
figure in both Irish and British politics.
End
Chapter Three
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