Charity and the great hunger in Ireland : the kindness of strangers / Christine Kinealy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kinealy, Christine.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Charity--Ireland--History--19th century.

Charity.

Hunger--Ireland--History.

Hunger.

Ireland--Social conditions--19th century.

Ireland.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (320 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York : Bloomsbury, 2013.

Summary:

The Great Irish Famine was one of the most devastating humanitarian disasters of the nineteenth century. In a period of only five years, Ireland lost approximately 25% of its population through a combination of death and emigration. How could such a tragedy have occurred at the heart of the vast, and resource-rich, British Empire? Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland explores this question by focusing on a particular, and lesser-known, aspect of the Famine: that being the extent to which people throughout the world mobilized to provide money, food and clothing to assist the starving Irish. This book considers how, helped by developments in transport and communications, newspapers throughout the world reported on the suffering in Ireland, prompting funds to be raised globally on an unprecedented scale. Donations came from as far away as Australia, China, India and South America and contributors emerged from across the various religious, ethnic, social and gender divides. Charity and the Great Hunger in Ireland traces the story of this international aid effort and uses it to reveal previously unconsidered elements in the history of the Famine in Ireland.

Contents:

Introduction1. 'Apparitions of death and disease': Official responses to the famine2. 'Some great and terrible calamity': Relief efforts from near and nfar3. 'A labour of love': Quaker charity4. 'An ocean of benevolence': The general relief committee of New York5. 'Arise ye dead of Skibbereen': Leading by example6. 'This cruel calamity of scarcity': The role of the Catholic Church7. 'How good people are!' The involvement of women8. 'A gloomy picture of human misery': The role of the British Relief Association9. 'The brotherhood of mankind': Donations to the British Relief Association10. 'Without distinction of creed or party, nation or colour': American aid11. 'The most barbaric nation': Evangelicals and charityConclusion: 'Thousands have by this means been saved' NotesAppendixBibliographyIndex

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781441133083

1441133089

9781441117588

144111758X