The Great Irish Famine – A History in Four Lives: Personal accounts of the Great Irish Potato Famine

The Great Irish Famine of 1845–52 was the defining event in the history of modern Ireland. In proportional terms one of the most lethal famines in global history, the consequences were shocking: at least one million people died, and double that number fled the country within a decade. The Great Irish Famine surveys the history of this great tragedy through the testimonies of four key contemporaries, conveying the immediacy of the unfolding disaster as never before.

They are:

John MacHale – the Catholic Archbishop of Tuam

John Mitchel – the radical nationalist

Elizabeth Smith – the Scottish-born wife of a Wicklow landlord

Charles E. Trevelyan – the assistant secretary to the Treasury

Each brings a unique perspective, influenced by who they were, what they witnessed, and what they stood for. It is an intimate and compelling portrayal of these hungry years. The book shows how misguided policies inspired by slavish adherence to ideology worsened the effects of a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions.

‘A significant and sophisticated addition to the historiography of the Famine.’
Christopher Cusack, Times Literary Supplement

‘Delaney’s approach to the story is innovative … (it will be found) in the hands of those who appreciate first-rate history … a very impressive book.’
Breandán Mac Suibhne, Dublin Review of Books

‘… a genuinely original and illuminating perspective on a subject too often dealt with by means of second-hand narrative and unexamined clichés.’
Roy Foster, Professor of Irish History, Oxford University

‘There are many books on this terrible event, but this is one of the most fluent and original. Although it is based on large amounts of primary research its style is accessible and engaging, and the result is a valuable study of a truly harrowing crisis.’
The Times Higher Education Supplement

‘… an extraordinarily important subject … focusing on four fascinating characters.’
Ryan Tubridy

‘Delaney offers an insightful, readable overview of this overwhelming disaster … highly recommended.’
Choice, America's Library Association publication

The Great Irish Famine: Table of Contents

PROLOGUE: THE LAND OF THE DEAD

PART I. BEFORE THE FAMINE

1. Encounters
2. Land and people
3. Politics and power

PART II. THAT COMING STORM

4. Spectre of famine
5. Peel’s brimstone

PART III. INTO THE ABYSS

6. A starving nation
7. The fearful reality
8. Property and poverty

PART IV. LEGACIES

9. Victoria’s subjects
10. Exiles

EPILOGUE: THE DEATH OF MARTIN COLLINS