Bibliographical citation: Bartoletti, S.C. (2001). Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 184 pages. ISBN: 0618002715.
Awards: ALA Notable Children's Books (2002), Best Fiction for Young Adults (2003), Orbis Pictus Award (2002), Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal (2002).
Author's website: http://www.scbartoletti.com/
Annotation: The disaster of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland from 1845-1850 is described in great detail using firsthand accounts and historical newspaper sketches. The catastrophic plight of Ireland and its people because of this famine caused death, emigration, and rebellion.
Personal Reaction: Author Susan Campbell Bartoletti gives a comprehensive history of the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1850. Bartoletti describes the history of the Irish/English relationship, and how the ethnic and religious differences between these two groups of people existed long before the potato famine struck, and how Catholics were treated unfairly by the English because of their religious beliefs. In 1845, a fungus arrived that ruined crops of both new (spring) potatoes and old (fall) potatoes, leaving them blackened, rotted, and inedible. The Irish depended upon potatoes in order to survive and most families ate potatoes morning, noon, and night. Families relied on these crops, and when they failed, the English landlords demanded their rent, leaving people with no way to eat or survive since their crops were ruined. Most of the population was poor so when they sold off everything that they owned-clothes, furniture, and livestock in order to try to feed their families, they had no money for rent. Landlords didn't hesitate to evict people from their homes and burn the roofs off so they were uninhabitable.
During a normal season when the crops didn't fail, the summer months were the leanest for the Irish since they were in between crops. Many families had to resort to begging in order to eat, and did this away from their homes so as not to be humiliated if seen by their neighbors. The famine made things much worse. Many Irish were forced to go to the workhouse or the poorhouse in order to survive. Many were desperate and resorted to foraging and stealing at night whatever they could in order to feed their families. Through this, Britain ignored the distress of the Irish, saying that they exaggerate and brought this plight upon themselves with their lack of education, laziness in the lack of trying to make better lives for themselves, and the fact that they had too many children. Starving, weak, and ill, many Irish were suffering from malnutrition and sickness because of the lack of food. Malnutrition made their bodies too weak to fight off bacteria, which is why infections and illness spread rather quickly throughout families and villages.
The Irish people didn't expect disaster to strike two years in a row. So when for the second year in a row the potato crops failed, the workhouses were bursting at the seams and hugely overpopulated. Many workhouses could barely feed the people that it contained and were on the verge of bankruptcy. Although there were plenty of grain crops to feed the people of Ireland, the landlords exported in to England, leaving the Irish hungry yet again. British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, understood the distress of the Irish since he had seen the 1816 food crisis. He sent scientists to Ireland to try to determine what had damaged the crops. At the time, no one understood the powerful fungus that destroyed the crops. These scientists gave the Irish suggestions on how to save their crops and insisted that they could salvage and eat some of the potatoes. The Irish people followed their directions, but none of it helped. When people tried to cut out some of the black parts of the potatoes and eat what they could, they developed terrible illness and diarrhea, further weakening their bodies. Many elderly and young children died as a result.
Sir Peel found a loophole to the British laws of importing and exporting food and imported Indian corn to try to help the Irish people. However, many didn't know how to cook it and it bothered their stomachs. There also wasn't enough to go around, and when people improperly cooked and ate the corn, some suffered and died from intestinal ruptures due to the sharpness of the corn. Once again, there was plenty of food in Ireland, but families did not have money to buy it. Families were homeless, starving, and dying from illness. Riots occurred, but many did not last long simply because people were too weak and famished to fight.
As yet another year arrived with more failed potato crops, the Irish finally had some relief with the establishment of the soup kitchen. Meals were rationed, but at least families knew that they could get something to eat. Churches went so far as to ask Catholics to convert to Protestantism if they wanted a meal. Faced with starving or converting, many chose to convert, even if it was only temporary. Others said they would starve to death first. Although the soup kitchens helped feed some and stave off hunger, they created situations where people with dysentery became even more ill, and crowds became unruly and people were hurt while waiting their turn to eat. When it seemed likely that the newest crop would survive, the soup kitchens were closed down. This was done too hastily and relief was taken away too early, once again leaving the Irish hungry when yet another failed crop occurred.
This disaster caused thousands to emigrate to the United States, London, and Canada. Here, the Irish worked to send money home to their families. The voyages were just as bad as staying back in Ireland. Greed ruled and ships were way over their legal limit of passengers. People were crowded and trapped in the holds of ships where the conditions were awful. Limited food, barely enough to feed starving people and little water. Lice spread easily and many developed fevers and dysentery. Many passengers died on these journeys, causing these ships to be called "coffin ships" (128). When these ships did arrived at their intended ports, passengers waited yet again as each ship had to be inspected and many people quarantined. Many more Irish died while waiting on ships or in these quarantined hospitals. Many Irish were able to get jobs so that they could send money home to their families in Ireland, but that doesn't mean that they weren't treated unfairly and with prejudice. Many establishments in the United States put up signs that said "No Irish Need Apply." These poor laborers were willing to work for low wages because whatever they made was a lot more than they made in Ireland. People also were concerned that these immigrants were bringing sickness and disease with them from the ships.
Prior to reading this narrative, I personally knew little about the potato famine than the basic facts. I knew that people starved, died, and emigrated as a result of the famine, but I hadn't realized the impact that it has had on the population of Ireland and its culture. I was shocked at the unwillingness of Britain to help these starving people and the length of their suffering. Bartoletti's depiction of this historical tragedy made it real for me since she followed the lives of a few Irish people, such as Diarmund O'Donovan Ross, the Widow McCormack and her family, and the story of Tom Flynn. The historical sketches gave such a realistic portrayal of the struggles of the Irish people to survive despite their horrific circumstances, making this title very accessible to the audience of young readers that it is intended for.
Front/Back Matter: Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, Timeline, Bibliography and Sources, Index.
*Bibliographical citation information, award information, as well as image retrieved from www.bwibooks.com (Titletales).
