Watch the documentary and answer the following questions:

1. How was blight carried from America to Europe in the summer of 1845?

2. Name three countries in Europe which were affected.

3. How did European authorities respond?

4. What did believers of the ‘free market’ think the British government should do?

5. In the public works schemes, why were conditions harsh and pay low?

6. What types of people were given work?

7. True or false: there were no famine-related deaths in the winter of 1845?

8. Who replaced Sir Robert Peel as Prime Minister in 1846?

9. What did his government incorrectly believe about the famine?

10. True or false: 1846 was the first year in which the full effects of famine were felt?

11. How did poor people survive / get food?

12. Why could these people not fish?

13. Apart from starvation, what caused a large number of deaths?

14. Why was the winter of 1846-7 particularly harsh?

15. What changes did Charles Trevelyan make to the public works scheme at this time?

16. Give examples of the type of work carried out under the public works scheme.

17. What caused the price of wheat to go up? What did European governments do to avoid a crisis?

18. True or false: Food markets during the famine were full and Ireland continued to export food to

Britain and elsewhere?

19. How many soldiers were stationed in Ireland in 1847?

20. What did the Quakers do to help famine victims?

21. What did Catholic priests and Protestant clerics do to help victims?

22. True or false: Charles Trevelyan believed the famine was a curse / intervention from God.

23. Name three countries that donated money to Ireland during the famine? How much did they donate?

24. How much did the Soup Kitchens cost the British government?

25. True or false: the blight did not return in 1847?

26. True or false: the British government closed the Soup Kitchens in 1847.