also known as the Irish Potato Famine and the Great Famine was a famine in

Ireland which started in 1845, it lasted depending on which region, until 1849 or even 1852 and led to the deaths of approximately one million people through starvation and disease; a further million are thought to have emigrated as a result of the famine. It is estimated that the population of ireland was reduced by 20-25% because of it. The proximate cause of the famine was a potato desease commonly known as late blight. Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact on human cost in Ireland, where a third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food-was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate. Ireland in the mid-1800s was an agricultural nation, populated by eight million people who were among the poorest people in the Western World. Only about a quarter of the population could read and write. Life expectancy was short, just 40 years for a man. It is no wonder that the Irish filled the ranks of the British Army.

Irish Families were devastated by the famine and children died in their thousands.

The famine was a watershed in the history of Ireland. Its effects permanently changed the island's demographic political and cultural landscape. For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory and became a rallying point for various national movements. The effects of the famine drove Irish families and sometimes just the men to nearly evry part corner of the globe including America, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Argentina and of course Britain. many went to the north-east of England landing at such places as Whitehaven. Their aim was to find work and in a lot of cases the men folk would send their earnings back home to families who desperatlely needed it.For the mostly illiterate and penniless Irish areas in the north-east offered these opportunities, with the growth of industry and in the production of coal and iron there was also employment in the shipbuilding yards, the engineering industries and the railways. There was also the coal mines. Living conditions for the Irish immigrants would have been terrible as they struggled to make their way. Often makeshift camps would appear. Single men who were the first to arrive tried find secure employment so that they could send for their families and relatives. Compared to the conditions in Ireland things were probably no better for them, although given the most menial and lowest paid jobs they could at least eat and feed their families. It is hard to picture the filthy conditions they must have had to live in. Life must have been extremly harsh for these people who had already greatly suffered and were now only seeking to survive.
Tensions would be high between the local Geordie's and the Irish. They were treated with suspicion, unkindness and animosity. The Irish would be employed to break strikes , the numbers involved would be exaggerated by the local papers until the locals were under the impression that thousands of Irish ' blacklegs ' were involved in the disputes. This in itself would cause the locals to hate them even more, and the Irish would pay the price. The bad feelings between the English and Irish communities within Tyneside caused trouble to flare throughout the late 1800s. Most of the Irish immigrants were Catholic, although the view at the time was that they were Fenians. When trouble did flare up it would be reported by the press that it was due to a Fenian insurrection. As the years passed the Irish became more educated and had a reputation as hard workers. Some second generation Irish immigrants were able to obtain semi skilled and skilled employed but for the majority low paid labouring jobs

Living conditions for the Irish immigrants was far worse than the slums shown above

was all that could be found. The Irish became more prominent and by 1871 there was an increase in amount of Irishmen working in the pits. Many children as young as eleven were sent ou to work and were employed in the mines. Everything was against the Irish. They were foreigners, they were looking for work and they came from a distinct religious and ethnic group. Instantly they were recognised by their strong Irish accents which would leave them vunerable to assualts and insults. It is no wonder that Irish ghettoes appeared where they would feel safe amongst their own and where safety was in numbers. Maybe it felt like being back home. They would create their own entertainment and sing songs about their dear old homeland, and the nightmare would be exstinguished by the flow of drink, made or bought it did not really matter. Drunkeness was common but understandable. They lived in deplorable conditions. Housing was damp and dirty and ill ventilated. They would have poor sanitation if any and it would not be uncommon for the dwellings to be infested with vermin. It is no wonder that desease was common and when an outbreak of Typhus occured in the Gateshead area amongst the poor Irish it became known
as the ' Irish Desease '. Even after all this suffering they were still despised and treated with contempt. Hostility towards them was not uncommon, infact an animal would have been treated better.

" By a lonely prison wall, i heard a young girl calling
Micheal, they have taken you away,
For you stole Trevelyan's corn
So the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay "