Arctic Ireland: the Extraordinary Story of the Great Frost and Famine of 1740-41

by David Dickson

Arctic The Extraordinary Story of the Great Frost and Forgotten Famine of 1740-41 by David Dickson | The White Row Press | 1998

Genres: History, Nonfiction, 18th Century, Irish Literature

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[Garret Cahill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but, as always with this author, superbly researched account of a catastrophic period in Irish history, still little remembered. As Dickson points out, at least an eighth of the country's population perished in a 21-month period, proportionately far higher than the much longer Great Famine of the following century. If the scale of the disaster has not resonated as strongly in subsequent years, Dickson suggests that this is because the unprecedented weather was blamed for the human suffering it caused, and - notwithstanding the distinctly varied responses of gentry and clergy - it touched all classes keenly. The 19th century famine, by contrast, was (rightly) regarded as an affront to decency and a wholly unacceptable failure by government in an era of prosperity and plenty. Though a concise monograph, Arctic Ireland nonetheless provides much food for thought.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the 1840's Ireland had a terrible famine, it killed millions from starvation in a country that was exporting food, it has never helped the Irish relationship with England. However, there was a famine in 1740-41 which could have been as bad, if not worse if the same population levels had been in place. This famine followed a severe frost, a frost that actually killed people and froze waterways, in some instances preventing food from getting in. Weakened people died from diseases that were to recur during our later famine.

The worst part of this story, apart from it's lack of being taught in schools, is that there were lessons that if they were learnt during this famine, could have prevented some of the loss of life a century later. But did the powers that be really want that? It's the harder question to answer.