About how many people starved to death during the Irish Potato Famines of the mid nineteenth century?

Answer 1

No definitive answer to this but estimates between 500,000 and one million people died as a result of starvation or disease related to the famine caused by potato 'blight'. An additional 1 - 2 million people emigrated begining a culture of emigration that resulted in a reduction in the population of Ireland from eight million pre famine to four million in the 1871 census and three million in the 1921 census.
It steadied around the three/three and a half million figure until the mid seventies and with economic growth and the opening of european borders a steady increase has resulted.

The Great Hunger or 'An Gorta Mor'

Answer 2

I would say around 1 million- 1.5 million. The 500,000 figure is on the low side and may only have some validity if you want to count only those who died of starvation alone rather than those who died of diseases consequent on the famine. The underlying point is that 1-1.5 million died and millions emigrated. However I would like to correct a previous poster who said the population fell from 9 to 3 million actually it fell from around 9.1 million to 6 million between 1846-51 bear in mind we are talking about the entire island here including Northern Ireland. The blame for the Famine lies not merely with the potato blight but also the system of colonial landlordism which turned since the 17th century the 80% Catholic population into serfs who owned virtually none of the land, and who lived under a largely English Protestant oligarchy that oppressed us with rack-rents such that we could not afford to stay on the land while at the same time buying food to survive on. In 1846 it is known that enough food was exported from Ireland to feed the entire population. The Russell govt in London obstructed the arrival of aid from the US and Turkey. An offer of famine relief from the Sultan of Turkey had to be reduced on British objections (so as not to embarrass Queen Victoria who had personally donated less). Turkish famine-relief ships were prevented from docking in British ports. Unlike the Famine of 1740-1, agricultural-exports were not banned. To be fair to the previous Peel govt that lasted until 1847 (1 yr into the famine), they removed the Corn Laws and the consequent tariffs on corn imports. However the Russell govt in power for the rest of the Famine (which lasted until 1851) was entirely negative in its approach, which was largely to either ignore the problem of to force the Irish to 'work for their dinner' via public-works schemes. The local-authorities were to have the option of applying for British govt loans to be repaid in 2 yrs at a 3% rate of interest. Unfortunately the Protestant landlords controlled the local-authorities and they were not exactly tempted by this. Many of those who did get employment in this way dropped dead while building canals far from rivers and roads from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Charles Trevelyan said that the problem wasn't the famine, but the danger of Britain having Ireland on their backs for years to come if they actively intervened by way of famine relief. Famine-relief depots were guarded by British troops as the govt refused to release their contents. Overall a damning indictment of the British handling of the Famine.

Answer 3

The population went from 9 million to just over three million in five years. Not all died from hunger. Many died from disease or from eating inedible foodstuffs such as grass. Thousands emigrated and died on the way to new countries in coffin ships or when they arrived in new countries. The estimate is between 1.5 and 2 million from actual hunger.

Answer 4

U r on yr xmas hols now, so leave the homework alone!

Answer 5

"Modern historians and statisticians estimate that between 500,000 and 1,500,000 died."

Answer 6

I'm sure it a was about 1,000,000.