How did the Great Famine change landownership and farming in Ireland?

The Great Famine (1845–1849) acted as a major catalyst for structural changes in Irish landownership and agricultural practices. Because the financial burden of famine relief was placed heavily on Irish landowners, many were unable to sustain their estates. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of tenant farmers and laborers were evicted when they could no longer pay their rents.12

This period marked a significant demographic shift, particularly among agricultural laborers and smallholders in the western and southwestern counties, who experienced a drastic decline in numbers. Following these evictions, landownership became increasingly concentrated in fewer hands.2

The nature of farming also underwent a transformation: rather than focusing on subsistence crops like the potato, more land was converted for grazing sheep and cattle to provide animal products for export to Britain. These shifts in land use and the consolidation of holdings set the stage for later agrarian movements, such as the Land League, which eventually pushed for land reform and the eventual transfer of ownership to occupying tenants through legislation like the Land Purchase Act of 1903.23