ABSTRACT
Many Americans, even those without Gaelic blood, are aware of the Great Potato Famine that befell the Irish during the 1840s as they experienced starvation, eviction, forced migration, and death. Today, we hear still of this suffering in the sorrowful words of countless Irish ballads. Yet, as evocative as these songs are, they seem to speak about a distant past. Even the cause, a rapid and utterly thorough blight that destroyed their staple food, appears to have little connection to our lives. History can provide us with hindsight, but only if we fully recall the past and do not simply recollect mere glimpses.
