Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Joural of Historical Geography. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version will be published in Journal of Historical Geography, 51, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2015.07.001
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - “The judgement of God on an indolent and unself-reliant people”?
T2 - the impact of the Great Irish Famine on Ireland’s religious demography
AU - Gregory, Ian
AU - Cunningham, Niall
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Joural of Historical Geography. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Historical Geography, 51, 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2015.07.001
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - It has suited both sides of Ireland’s religious and political divide to portray the Great Famine that affected Ireland in the late 1840s as primarily affecting the Catholic population. However, while the geographies of the Famine have been explored in detail in recent years its religious dimensions have been largely ignored, albeit with a few exceptions. As a consequence, the assumption that Great Famine was a Catholic famine has not been sufficiently challenged. Drawing on a relatively untapped source, the 1834 Commission on ‘the state of religion and other instruction in Ireland,’ as well as census data, this paper explore the relationship between religion, poverty and population loss over the Famine period. It shows that Catholics were disproportionately affected by the Famine because the Famine was most severe in areas whose population was overwhelmingly Catholic. In more mixed areas, however, the Protestant population seems to have been at least as affected as Catholics if not more so. This conundrum explains why the Famine actually had a surprisingly small impact on Ireland’s religious demography.
AB - It has suited both sides of Ireland’s religious and political divide to portray the Great Famine that affected Ireland in the late 1840s as primarily affecting the Catholic population. However, while the geographies of the Famine have been explored in detail in recent years its religious dimensions have been largely ignored, albeit with a few exceptions. As a consequence, the assumption that Great Famine was a Catholic famine has not been sufficiently challenged. Drawing on a relatively untapped source, the 1834 Commission on ‘the state of religion and other instruction in Ireland,’ as well as census data, this paper explore the relationship between religion, poverty and population loss over the Famine period. It shows that Catholics were disproportionately affected by the Famine because the Famine was most severe in areas whose population was overwhelmingly Catholic. In more mixed areas, however, the Protestant population seems to have been at least as affected as Catholics if not more so. This conundrum explains why the Famine actually had a surprisingly small impact on Ireland’s religious demography.
KW - Great Irish Famine
KW - Population change
KW - Poverty
KW - Religion
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhg.2015.07.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jhg.2015.07.001
M3 - Journal article
VL - 51
SP - 76
EP - 87
JO - Journal of Historical Geography
JF - Journal of Historical Geography
SN - 0305-7488
ER -