There have been many devastating events in history where millions have needlessly died. Some people, usually religious fanatics in my opinion, believe it is one God or another dealing with the problem of over population. Who can say whether this is the truth or not, though I choose to believe not.
Most of the time what starts as a natural catastrophe is exacerbated on a grand scale by the mistakes of human kind, though sometimes individual lives are saved by human kindness. Maybe in years to come we will say the same about Covid-19. The Irish potato famine is not an event I have known a great deal about until finding out that my own ancestors were likely victims of that time, which encouraged me to look a bit further.
We all know about prejudice, and maybe we are one of those people who feel strongly about immigration today, and the over population of our country and we think the government should put a stop to it. If we aren't one of them, then we all know someone who is. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It was exactly the same during the potato famine. Some British people and some American people certainly thought their government should put a stop to the influx of poor and sick immigrants arriving into their land and putting a strain on their economy. Canadians and Australians probably felt the same way. Nobody wanted the Irish. Today, we should just count ourselves lucky that immigrants arriving into our lands are usually healthy.
What I think about, is how desperate must a person be to leave their home, where their ancestors may have been for generations, and seek prosperity elsewhere; to put their children, their loved ones, onto a boat on a treacherous ocean and risk death because that is better than what they currently have to live with? I don't feel despair because our country is getting crowded and our economy is under strain; maybe that is because I am lucky and I have a job and a home but even so; I feel despair that those poor people were unlucky enough to be born somewhere with no hope, that they are perhaps hungry and desperate, that all they want is a better life and future for their children. I have always felt like this. Isn't this what we all want?
My family research has made me realise that at one point in history I was part of that person; the one who was suffering hopelessness and despair and had to gather the strength to travel hundreds or thousands of miles and leave everything that was familiar just to survive. I would have had 2 choices; leave or die! Michael Dempsey and Mary Nash are my heroes! I don't believe that a man who had the strength and determination to get up and leave his land, would have gone on to abandon his wife and his 2 young children. He must have left to find them a better life, but on his second attempt at leaving to find his promised land, had disappointingly failed. That is what I am going to believe! Michael and Mary's strength, and determination, and bravery gave my grandparents, my parents, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my sisters, and my children their lives. If I could meet them today I would thank them with all my heart!
Anyway, the following is a really good documentary about the Irish Potato Famine. If you want to find out more about ordinary people's lives during that time, about the land owners and the governments decisions during a catastrophic event in our history then take a watch. It is 1 1/2 hours long so get yourself a cuppa before you start ......
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