23 - Famine & Fury on Film

Footnotes of History

See the show page at Footnotesofhistory.com/23 This time round Dan and I are discussing a controversial flick with its roots in the struggles between Britain and Ireland. Or I ought to say England and Ireland (since Ireland was at the time a formal part of Great Britain). Or I ought say some aspects of England and some of Ireland! No more disclaimers, we’re discussing the Black ’47 – a grim, violent film about the Irish famine of 1845. We’ve danced around the topic for a bit in some of our other episodes. In Episode 2 for instance, we pointed out that many of the New York populace drafted for the American Civil War were not long arrived from the Emerald Isle and many of them had taken flight around 1845 to escape a hellish existence. Obviously the film is set two years after the famine so it’s not as if things have got any better. A bit of everything in this episode though – with historical context at the fore. Hopefully it won’t ruin your tea!