ABSTRACT
The Irish Constabulary had been consolidated less than a decade when Ireland's potato crop failed on a large scale in 1845. In 1846, the police sometimes found themselves supervising and administering relief programs, if other local agencies were not in place. The Irish Constabulary's first assignment was to keep the misery of famine Ireland from erupting in violence that threatened property, property owners, and good order as defined both at Dublin Castle and Westminster. The available statistics of reported offenses during the Famine show that traditional agrarian crime declined as communities were affected by death or emigration. There was great movement in Ireland during the Famine. Large numbers of destitute families left their homes by compulsion for failure to pay rent and in order to find subsistence and to emigrate. Even as the impact of the Famine began to subside in the late 184os, worries about raids on provisions and general unrest persisted.
