Description

The story of the great Irish Famine of the 1840s, including the suffering and cruelty to which it gave rise, can be told in many different ways. This book traces the devastating impact of the catastrophe through the medium of maps, diagrams and commentary. The changes wrought by the crisis are shown at the detailed level of the country, and of the poor-law union or barony wherever possible. This approach highlights the dramatic changes in Irish economy, culture and social structure, which were compressed into a few terrible years. The cartographic representation of the Famine also serves to underline its uneven incidence, spatially as well as socially, in the Irish countryside.