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The Next World and the New World: Relief, Migration, and the Great Irish Famine
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 May 2019
Abstract
Ireland on the eve of the Great Famine was a poor and backward economy. The Great Irish Famine of the 1840s is accordingly often considered the classic example of Malthusian population economics in action. However, unlike most historical famines, the Great Famine was not the product of a harvest shortfall, but of a major ecological disaster. Because there could be no return to the status quo ante, textbook famine relief in the form of public works or food aid was not enough. Fortunately, in an era of open borders mass emigration helped contain excess mortality, subject to the limitation that the very poorest could not afford to leave. In general, the authorities did not countenance publicly assisted migration. This article discusses the lessons to be learned from two exceptional schemes for assisting destitute emigrants during and in the wake of the famine.
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Footnotes
This article is a revised version of my Presidential Address, Economic History Association Conference, Montreal, 9 September 2018. My thanks to all past and present collaborators cited in this paper. Thanks also to Michael Anderson, Bruce Campbell, Ann Carlos, Kevin Denny, Tom Devine, David Dickson, Alan Fernihough, Morgan Kelly, Liam Kennedy, Trevor McClaughlin, Perry McIntyre, Don MacRaild, Breandán Mac Suibhne, Gerry Moran, Peter Solar, and the editors for helpful comments and other assistance.
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