Anti-British Xenophobia and Hatred in Ireland

It was a parody of a "revisionist" view of the famine that appears to excuse British misrule and abuses in Ireland by pointing to overpopulation or dependence on a single crop as the main factors without looking at the context of colonialism as you put it. Yeah when I reread, I probably shouldn't have bothered hitting "Post" there (comment in haste, repent at leisure).

......one way of not responding.

I guess this is aimed at me. Ok I never said that overpopulation was what caused the famine, instead it was a factor in why it was so devastating.

Here is site looking at agriculture in Ireland before the famine (from a professor at Cork University)

https://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/famine/agriculture_pre.html

A few comments from this -

About Connaught

Between 1700 and the famine, Ireland's population increased rapidly. As land became more crowded, many farmers were forced to seek new lands for growing food on, and the only available areas were the scantly populated but poor lands of the Atlantic coast. Thousands of farmers settled in those areas, and there grew food mostly for subsistence, using the egalitarian 'Rundale' system of periodic land redistribution among the families. The land around the houses was used primarily for growing oats or potatoes while the higher ground was used for cattle grazing. The burgeoning population in these areas and lack of good soil prompted some ingenious solutions to problems, such as seaweed fertiliser and burning turf rather than wood or coal. It was soon discovered that potatoes thrived on seaweed and the potato soon became one of the main staple foods.

On the potato

By the early 1800s, the population had reached such a level (over 8 million by the start of the famine) that many of the farmers and farm labourers became almost wholly dependant on the potato. By the 1830s, 30% to 35% of Irish people depended on the potato as their main source of food. In conclusion, on the eve of the famine around a third of Irish people, concentrated in Munster and Connaught, depended on the potato almost exclusively. As it could not be stored or transported well, a new crop had to be grown each year.

This was written in 1997 so it is hardly revisionist.

Irish lads love expressing how much they hate British people.

Yet the same hypocritical pricks will follow British premiership football, even referring to their team as "us" etc

Love and let live, the past is the past.

While much of its ruling class is obviously corrupt, venal and criminal, Britain retains a strong military and is our neighbouring island, and for those reasons alone it is not sensible to antagonise it (everyone knows that a trapped rat, or dying wasp, are at their most dangerous).

But also, it's a country in decline, and while, strategically, we should be nice to the Brits. , we should simultaneously either take our own military defense seriously or cooperate with Germany on their plans for developing an EU army.

Its not revisionist, its selective.

We can only assume that lack of context is either through ignorance or deliberate selective quoting. From the same site.

The potato isn't native to Ireland. Its was introduced to Ireland by the gentry and landowners. They encouraged the tenants to eat it because it was cheap. All the alternative foods were exported.

Let the past be the past. But perhaps lets not rewrite the inconvenient bits.

People don't hate the British people they hate the British empire and forces. And to be honest I hate people that are into the forces. They're no different to supporters of the Nazis back in the day. The problem with the British is some of them haven't moved on or atoned for their crimes e.g this lad that shot an unarmed civilian with special needs in the back years ago.

https://twitter.com/JohnnyMercerUK/status/1444226772824993797?s=19

The UK establishment. They're rotten to the core. I feel sorry for the British themselves. I hope they get rid of the monarchy soon. Power to the people.

https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1444035157711802381?s=19

Okay maybe shouldn't have used the "r" word. Another poster said "selective" since I last read this thread, and that's much better.

Partly. Putting the focus on the Irish "overpoulation" and "poverty" (you, from first post on it) dependence of Irish peasants on a single subsistence crop to survive (you & Aegir), or the greed of the upper-middle class "natives" in the society (Aegir) as reasons for "why the famine was so devastating in Ireland" devoid of reference to the wider context is very selective.

If done deliberately, that does seem like it has some agenda behind it; to absolve rulers of Ireland at the time of some of their resposibility, either spread the blame or dilute it.

Another poster (Shoog) said "Its difficult to convey just how offensive it is to even suggest that it was somehow the Irish's own fault.", now maybe you didn't mean it but both you (and Aegir's) comments on the famine get close to that.

That makes zero sense.

As you wish.