Black '47

by Frank Neal

The appearance of the potato blight in Ireland in August 1845 was the beginning of a nightmare during which an estimated one million died. Over the period 1845-51, hundreds of thousands left Ireland, principally for North America and Britain. Neal examines the experiences of those Famine Irish who sought refuge in Britain during 1847, the worst year of the Famine, and the relief operations launched in the host towns. Black '47 reconstructs the horrors experienced in the major areas of Irish settlement in Britain. It provides the first ever estimates of casualties and costs, and also rescues from anonymity both victims and heroes.