Migration as disaster relief: Lessons from the Great Irish Famine

Abstract

Mass emigration was one key feature of the Great Irish Famine which distinguishes it from today's famines. By bringing famine victims to overseas food supplies, it undoubtedly saved many lives. Poverty traps prevented those most in need from availing of this form of relief, however. Cross-county data show that the ratio of emigration to deaths was higher in richer than in poorer counties. Another key feature of the Famine emigration was that it was irreversible. The Famine thus had a permanent impact on Ireland's population and economy, whereas typically famines only reduce population in a transitory fashion. Famine emigration spurred post-Famine emigration by eliminating poverty traps; the result was a sustained decline in the Irish population, and a convergence of living standards both within Ireland and between Ireland and the rest of the world. Mass long-distance emigration from Ireland did not begin with the Great Irish Famine. Yet the outflow was greatly swollen by that famine, and this distinguishes the Irish crisis from most historical and modern Third World famines. The migration was the product of the United States' open door policy and Ireland's being part of the United Kingdom. No similar prospect is open to modern famine-threatened economies. The distinction raises many questions about the character and scope of the famine migration and its effectiveness as a complement to, or substitute for, the lack of other forms of famine relief. All famines induce people to move temporarily in search of food and in order to escape disease. Much of the movement is from rural areas into the towns, and when the worst is over most of the migrants usually return home (Sen 1981, pp. 98, 205; Watkins and Menken 1985, p. 652; Findley 1994). Some of the migration during the Great Irish Famine followed this pattern, as cities and bigger towns were swollen by the arrival of thousands of largely unwelcome famine migrants seeking relief or work. The huge increase between 1841 and 1851 in the percentage of Dubliners born outside of Dublin (from 27 to 39 per cent) was largely the result of the Great Famine. The inflow into the cities provoked its own problems and responses.