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Ireland and the Union, c1774–1923

Government response to the Famine

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 3

Overview

Recall questions on Peel's maize and Russell's public works, the Gregory Clause, the soup kitchens, the Poor Law Extension Act, Trevelyan and Mitchel, and the export controversy.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

What caused the Irish Famine?

Key term

What were the roles of Trevelyan and Mitchel?

Key term

What was Russell's response to the Famine?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What caused the Irish Famine?

    Model answer

    Potato blight destroyed the crop from 1845, and the poor were catastrophically dependent on the potato as a single-crop staple (monoculture).

  2. 2

    What was Peel's response to the Famine?

    Model answer

    He imported Indian corn (maize), set up relief works, and repealed the Corn Laws in 1846 to allow cheaper grain.

  3. 3

    What was Russell's response to the Famine?

    Model answer

    Guided by laissez-faire, he relied on public works and later soup kitchens, and shifted the cost of relief onto Irish rates.

  4. 4

    What did the 1847 extension of the poor law to Ireland require?

    Model answer

    It made Irish poor rates fund relief and, through the Gregory 'quarter-acre' clause, denied relief to anyone holding more than a quarter-acre, forcing many to give up their land.

  5. 5

    What were the roles of Trevelyan and Mitchel?

    Model answer

    Charles Trevelyan, the Treasury official overseeing relief, held providentialist, laissez-faire views that limited aid; John Mitchel, a Young Irelander, blamed British policy, arguing the English had 'created the Famine'.

  6. 6

    What was the food-export controversy?

    Model answer

    Grain and livestock continued to be exported from Ireland during the Famine, becoming a lasting nationalist grievance.

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