Synopses & Reviews
Between 1845 and 1852 Ireland was devastated by the 'Great Hunger' - the most severe famine in modern European history. The view widely held by historians is that the impact of the Famine on the northern province of Ulster, in particular the largely Protestant city of Belfast, was minimal. In the first book on the Famine to focus specifically on Belfast, Christine Kinealy, one of Irelands leading historians of the period, and Gerard MacAtasney, challenge this view and offer a new interpretation. Drawing on a wealth of original research, Kinealy and MacAtasney begin with an examination of society and social behaviour in Belfast prior to 1845. They then assess the official response to the crisis by the British government, the response by the Church in both England and Ireland, and the part played by the local administration in Ulster. The authors examine the impact of the cholera epidemic on Belfast in 1849-50, the city's recovery after the Famine, and the beginnings of open sectarianism among the business and landed classes of the province.
Review
‘[Kinealy is] one of the outstanding historians of modern Ireland. --Irish Democrat
Synopsis
Written by one of the outstanding historians of modern Ireland, The Hidden Famine examines the impact of Ireland's Great Famine on the city of Belfast.
Synopsis
Furedi finds a disturbingly deep conservative agenda stifling the experimental and new ideas around the studying of history._x000B_
About the Author
Christine Kinealy is a Reader at the University of Central Lancashire and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Liverpool. She is the author of, among other books, A Death-Dealing Famine: The Great Hunger in Ireland (Pluto, 1997).Gerard Mac Atasney is currently completing a doctoral thesis on the famine in County Armagh. He is the author of a number of articles on the Famine, and two previous books, The Famine in Lurgan/Portadown (Beyond the Pale Publications, 1997) and Leitrim and the Great Hunger (Carrick Historical Society, 1997).
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I. The 'Old' Poor Law c. 1640-1845
1. Poverty before the Famine
Part II. A National Crisis. c.1845-47.
2. A Man-Made Famine.
3. All the Horrors of Famine.
4. An Droch-Shaol . Disease and Death in Black '47.
Part III. A Divided Town.
5. Public and Private Responses
6. Conflict and Rebellion.
7. The Crisis is Passed.
Aftermath.
Appendices
Further Reading
Index