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FAMINE
A Postcolonial Study of Tom Murphy's Play

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                    "History is not about power and triumph so often as it is
                                                                                about suffering and vulnerability."*

• Act of Union-1800

    In the late 18th century many British leaders, including Prime Minister William Pitt, believed that the Irish colonial ruling class had failed to provide strong leadership and stability in Ireland. The British Government proposed the complete political union of Ireland and the British Empire as the only practical solution to this perceived problem. The proposition for the creation of the United Kingdom created a large amount of debate and resistance within the two countries. Still the Act was accepted by the British parliament, and the Dublin parliament (see photo) voted for its own abolition on August 1, 1800. This move was officially known as the Act of Union and is often cited as the beginning of unjust and dominating control of Ireland by the British Empire. Although England had been attempting to control Ireland for centuries, this official government action made the control more legally justifiable. The Act of Union officially took effect on January 1, 1801 (Campbell 11).                                                                      

• Stereotypes

   Although the Act of Union officially joined Britain and Ireland together under one government, many British citizens and government officials considered the Irish to be inferior. As author Stephen Campbell states, “The Irish poor were perceived as being of a different and degenerate race and religion” (14). There was a general perception that rich was better than poor, Anglo-Saxon than Celt, and Protestant than Catholic (Campbell 24). A quote from the London Times on January 3, 1848, clearly expresses this sentiment: “It will be difficult for most of our readers to feel near akin with a class which at best wallows in pigsties and hugs the most brutish degradation” (Campbell 13). In this statement it is easy to feel the contempt with which many Britons approached the Irish people and culture. These stereotypes were even perpetuated by high-ranking officials such as Charles Trevelyan, the treasury secretary, who said the British should not fear the famine, but “the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people” (Campbell 24). Because the Irish were often considered a problem and less than human, public opinion and government policy often created unfair and damaging conditions for the citizens of Ireland. In addition, many in Britain believed the Irish were the cause of their own problems. As a result, they were often unwillingly to extend substantial help (Quinn 74).

·  Poor Law of 1838

The British government introduced the Irish Poor Law in 1838. This law was modeled after the English Poor Law that was put into place in 1834. Yet there were several major differences that made the Irish Poor Law less inclusive and less beneficial to the people. These differences were the

·        omission of outdoor relief.
The English claimed that outdoor relief was expensive, demoralized the people, and prevented honest work. So they provided only for indoor relief, meaning that aid would only be given to those who entered government run workhouses. As a result, only the extremely destitute, those who had no property and nowhere else to go, would be willing to enter the workhouses and receive aid.

·        condition that no additional relief would be extended if the workhouses were full.
 This provision essentially said that the Irish had no right to relief. If there were no more places, then there would be no other form of government help (Kinealy, "Calamity" 23).

·        attempt to make poor rates a local responsibility. Much of the burden of relief was placed on landlords and local officials. As a result, tension and mistreatment arose between landlords and tenants.

·        fact that no Law of Settlement was included (Kinealy, "Poor" 158).

Essentially, the Irish Poor law was meant to treat pauperism more harshly in Ireland than did the
English Poor Law in England (Kinealy, "Calamity" 23).

From the time it was introduced, the English were adamantly against extending the aid provided by the Irish Poor Law. Relief was only given to those who were completely destitute, and no measures of the law provided for short-term hardship or temporary dislocation. Local commissioners believed that, “if any deviation from the law was permitted, a dangerous precedent would be created” (Kinealy, "Calamity" 28). They incorrectly believed that if you gave one person aid, the entirety of Ireland would stop working and come looking for free handouts (Kinealy, "Calamity" 29). The Poor Law was not meant to provide widespread relief or deal with a disaster as widespread as the Irish potato famine. As a result, the Irish Poor Law could not provide sufficient relief to the Irish people. To add to the problem, even when the horrors of the Great Famine were recognized and well-known, the British held fast to their refusal to extend the Poor Law and add to the kinds of aid it encompassed, even after warnings from its creator George Nicholls about its "inability to provide sufficient relief during a period of acute distress or famine" (Kinealy, "Calamity" 62). As a result, the famine relief provided in Ireland was perversely inadequate.                                                                           

        ·  Export Policy

   The export policies in England and Ireland in the first half of the eighteenth-century also contributed to the dire distress caused by the Great Famine. The most important trade circumstance in relation to the famine was the export of grain and other crops out of Ireland. Because of the diversity found in Ireland's economy, the country was able to produce surplus food (Kinealy, "Calamity" 15). Most Irish peasants exported much of their produce to England to pay rent and other costs of living, while they lived on their own potato crops (Quinn 74). According to Stephen Campbell, "By the 1840s, three million Irish consumed little else but the potato" (20). Arline Golkin's Famine: A Heritage of Hunger  reports that by the beginning of the 18th century the potato constituted 80% of food intake by the poor (52). As a result, the loss of the potato crop meant that the Irish would need other food sources or face starvation. Unfortunately, England was highly dependent on Irish crops, and because they held power over the Irish government, exportation of food crops was not reduced as the famine spread. As Golkin states, "Wheat and oats were transported to England instead of being retained to replace losses caused by potato crop failures" (53). The perception of this practice is well-expressed in the following poem from the time:

"Take it from us every grain,
We were made for you to drain;
Black starvation let us feel,
England must not want a meal" (Kinealy, "Politics" 2).

Essentially, the Irish watched the food that could have saved them from starvation and death being taken by the imperialist power that repressed them. As Amartya Sen gracefully stated, "Famine is a characteristic of some people not having enough food; it is not a characteristic of there not being enough food" (Golkin, 17). Despite the fact that the Irish continued to work and raise crops and livestock, they were not allowed to enjoy the produce. As a result, the uneven export policy in place during the Great Famine added to the suffering of Ireland's people.

· Public Works

        A form of outside assistance, public works, was introduced in March of 1846. Four bills were passed in an attempt to increase employment through projects directed by the Board of Works. Most of the work involved manual labor, especially road building and other utility work (Campbell 34). These projects were meant to provide temporary relief to the Irish. The agreement for road repair was often based on a split monetary contribution of a 50% grant from the government and a 50% contribution by local Grand Juries (Kinealy, "Calamity" 39, 54). While the public works programs may seem very positive upon first glance, it is important to note that many provisions reduced the amount of relief actually provided.

• The first issue was the delay in implementation. The works were not even introduced until the famine had already begun to take a major toll in Ireland. In addition, once the works had been approved, many of the projects took months to begin, allowing more and more people to become destitute and ill, or die (Campbell 24).

• Secondly, the demand for work was much higher that the amount of available employment. Many of the people who left farms and crops in the hopes of finding employment on the public works were ignored (Campbell 34).

• The wage given to workers on the public works was extremely low at about 9d or 10d per day. This amount often did not provide enough relief for those who had already lost everything. Sometimes workers were given food instead of wages so that they could at least keep their families from starvation (Kinealy, "Calamity" 57).

• There was also a problem with the staffing for and approval of works projects. It was very difficult to find enough engineers and other professionals to oversee the projects. In addition, approval often involved passing a request through a long list of administrators, a process which took time and delayed aid (Kinealy, "Calamity" 56).

        Chairman of the relief commission Edward Lucas understood these problems and argued that an adjustment of public works needed to be made to meet the need wherever it occurred or death from famine would result (Kinealy, "Calamity" 43). Unfortunately, the English government did not listen to Lucas's warnings and soon replaced him. It was this decision and many like it that resulted in an insufficient level of aid and the failure of a program that could have greatly decreased the negative effects of the famine.

·  Other Contributing Factors

          A contributing factor to England's neglect of Ireland was the belief in the laissez-faire style of government. This policy functioned under the belief that government should interfere as little as possible, and that people should be allowed to make their own choices, regulate their own actions, and solve their own problems (Quinn 74). Adam Smith, the father of this philosophy, based this belief on the idea that "the wealth of a nation could be increased if the market was free from constraints" (Kinealy, "Calamity" 7). In addition, the laissez-faire theory held that "charity was degrading to its recipients" (Golkin 51). By the time the British realized the long-term effects of applying this theory to the famine in Ireland, it was too late.

          A major event that aided in maintaining England's non-interference stance was the forced resignation of England's Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, in 1846. Peel had attempted to institute legislation that would provide food and local relief programs to much of Ireland. Many disagreed with these actions, and he was replaced by John Russell (see photo), a Whig government member. The new government chose public works as its main source of relief and reduced Britain's financial contribution toward local relief. These changes made landlords and private charities more responsible for aid and made relief more difficult for people to obtain. By 1849 the situation was even worse, as only people who occupied less than a quarter of an acre of land were eligible for relief (Kinealy, "Politics" 2).

        Finally, short-term shortages in food had occurred in Ireland in previous years, and it was initially thought that the same was true of the Great Famine. Therefore, temporary relief measures that had found success in the past were used (Kinealy, "Calamity" 39). Unfortunately, the Great Famine was a widespread, severe event that affected almost all of Ireland. The short-term methods provided by the government were not enough to counteract its devastating effects.                                                                   

• Apology

      Although the English government did not extend the necessary relief during the famine, there was some acknowledgement of deficiency as time went on. As early as 1850 a British parliamentary committee of enquiry concluded, "A neglect of public duty has occurred and has occasioned a state of things disgraceful to a civilized age and country" (Kinealy, "Politics" 4). Yet it was not until 1997, 150 years after the events occurred, that Tony Blair officially apologized for the severe neglect of the Irish people during the famine.

•     Applying this historical context to Murphy’s “Famine”
  The following list indicates pages in Murphy's play that address the issues discussed above. Brief discussions are given for each topic.
  
  Sending Food (Pgs. 21, 24, 25)
  The characters in the play experience the export of consumable goods first hand as they watch full corn carts being taken to the ports. As they come to the realization that they will have no potatoes to sustain them, they must also realize that the other food products that Ireland has produced are being stolen from them. The characters consider attacking the policemen guarding the carts so they can take the food for themselves, but are ultimately deterred by John, who advises them to do what is right. Not only do they recognize the export of food, Liam and Micckeleen also express the idea that the English do not care about them and want them to die.
  Relief Committee (Pg. 34)
  Murphy provides a fictional example of the relief committees set up during the Famine years. The poor farmers believe that a relief committee is being set up to help them. Yet they do not immediately realize that this relief will be grossly insufficient and unfairly beneficial to the wealthy merchants and landowners.
  Counter-stereotypes (Pgs. 34, 40)
  It seems that Murphy intentionally gives his poor Irish characters personality traits counter to those commonly expressed in anti-Irish stereotypes of the time. For example, Liam and John both long for something useful to do. This type of representation helps the reader to understand that the Irish wanted to work and be productive, but that the conditions of the time made this task extremely difficult to accomplish.
  The "Policy": Aid (Pgs. 40, 82) and  Relief Plans (Pgs. 55, 68)
  The characters in Murphy's play often refer to the actions of the British government as "The Policy". Such a generalization highlights the fact that Ireland was run by a remote and often difficult-to-understand government. The characters most often use this term in relation to English aid and help to the Irish. The condition of the relief system in Ireland at the time is also explored through both the English and Irish characters.
  Stereotypes (Pgs, 50, 51, 52)
  While Murphy presents characters who are anti-stereotypical, he also explores the prevalence and effects of stereotypes in Ireland during the Great Famine. These stereotypical views are most often expressed by landowners and government officials who are removed from the common Irish people.
  Public Works (Pgs. 48, 54, 73) and Lack of employment (Pgs. 78-79)
  The public works system that was implemented during the famine years also plays a role in the play's narrative. The reader sees Liam begin working as a supervisor for the English-run road works, as well as the refusal of work to many of the Irish who longed for it and needed it for survival. Once again, the agony of Murphy's characters helps to bring what is often viewed as long-ago and deadened suffering into the light of reality and sympathy.
  Act of Union (Pgs. 52, 85)
  Because the Act of Union is such an important cornerstone to the later Famine events in Ireland, it is not surprising that Murphy mentions it in this play. The wide-spread impact of the Union is also represented by the discussion of the topic in the play by government officials, landowners, and Irish peasants.
  Imperialism (Pgs. 52, 53, 56, 57, 75, 88)
  Imperialism refers to a situation in which one country expands territorial and ruling control over another. As discussed above, the English control of Ireland contributed greatly to the horrific and long-term effects of the Famine in Ireland. As a result, it is not surprising that imperialistic issues arise throughout Murphy's play. Through Murphy's characters, the reader is able to understand more fully the effects of imperialism on individual lives and survival. Such an understanding humanizes the effects that are often seen as affecting large masses of faceless people in far away countries.

* Quote taken from Campbell, Stephen J. The Great Irish Famine. Colour Books: Ireland, 1995.
** Images taken from Acrimony (Dublin Parliment), Ireland Story (Relief), and Irish Famine (Russell).

 Annotated Bibliography
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Copyright © 2006  All Rights Reserved.
Authored by Angela Pfeiffer
Last Updated on March 2006.