Ireland from the Famine to the Partition

Ireland from the Famine to the Partition (1850s-1920s) research by Jackie Quarters ‘03 for Mr. Rozell “You can break down my door, you can even strip search me Never gonna take away my human dignity Beat me, shoot me, flame keep on burnin’ Never gonna put out the fire of freedom” ~Black 47 1 The Irish struggle for freedom from the British Empire has been a controversy in Ireland for the past 800 years. This song written by Black 47 gives insight into the troubles that the Irish Catholics have suffered because they did not accept British rule. Even today, the Irish are going to a great extent to unite their island and to be free of British domination. The famine lasted over four years in Ireland. More than one million people died of starvation and or disease and millions more migrated to the Americas. Many of the ones that did migrate to the Americas died of mal nutrition and disease traveling on vessels that were often called “Coffin Ships”. Very little help came from the British government. Some government officials, such as Sir Robert Peel, Lord Charles Trevelyan, and Lord John Russell tried to solve the “Irish Question”, but most of their ideas failed. This period, known as the Great Hunger, left Ireland destitute with more bitterness against the English than ever before. In 1858, a group was formed called the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) in a Dublin timber-yard ...