The Hidden Famine: Hunger, Poverty and Sectarianism in Belfast 1840-50

Between 1845 and 1852 Ireland was devastated by the "Great Hunger" - the most severe famine in modern European history. The view widely-held by many historians is that the impact of the famine on the northern province of Ulster, in particular the largely Protestant city of Belfast, was minimal. In the first book on the Famine to focus specifically on Belfast, Christine Kinealy, one of Ireland's leading historians of the period, and Gerard MacAtasney, challenge this revisionist view. Drawing on a wealth of original research, the authors begin with an examination of society and social behaviour in Belfast prior to 1845. They then assess the official response to the crisis by the British government, the response by the Church in both England and Ireland, and the part played by the local administration in Ulster. The authors examine the impact of the cholera epidemic on Belfast in 1849/50, the city's recovery after the Famine, and the beginnings of open sectarianism among the business and landed classes of the province.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. The ‘Old’ Poor Law c. 1640-1845 1. Poverty before the Famine Part II. A National Crisis. c.1845-47 2. A Man-Made Famine 3. All the Horrors of Famine 4. An Droch-Shaol . Disease and Death in Black ‘47 Part III. A Divided Town 5. Public and Private Responses 6. Conflict and Rebellion. 7. The Crisis is Passed Aftermath Appendices Further Reading Index

About the Author :
Christine Kinealy is a lecturer in history at the University of Central Lancashire. She is the author of The Great Calamity: The Irish Famine, 1845-52 (Roberts Reinhart, 1994) and The Hidden Famine (Pluto Press, 2000). She has written for History Ireland and the New York-based Irish Echo. Gerard Mac Atasney is an Irish historian based in Belfast who has written widely on the Great Famine in Ireland. He is the author of The Other Famine (The History Press, 2010) and The Hidden Famine (Pluto Press, 2000).

Review :
'One of the outstanding historians of modern Ireland' 'Proving that Belfast also suffered the holocaust of the famine. Excellently documented account packed with tables, newspaper cuttings and appendices' 'This is an immensely interesting and important work; it covers historical ground which has largely been ignored by even the most eminent Famine historians and comprehensively explodes some of the most enduring myths surrounding the 1840s'