EP068 WHEN HUNGER WALKS THE LAND

EP068 WHEN HUNGER WALKS THE LAND

From AGE OF VICTORIA PODCAST by Chris Fernandez-Packham (Victorian History Lover/Queen Victoria Fan)

April 7, 2026 · 53 min

About this episode

This episode explores the human reality of the Great Hunger in Ireland, examining the desperation and societal transformation caused by famine and disease.

Episode Overview In the third instalment of our series on famine and revolution, we pull away the veil of headline numbers to investigate the visceral, human reality of the Great Hunger in Ireland. This is an exploration of a land filling with desperation, where the brutal biological mechanics of what happens when the human body begins to consume itself take centre stage. We examine the fate of a terrified people, facing ruin triggered by a disease that wreaked havoc on already weak economies. From the folklore of the Fear Gorta to the harrowing clinical reports of the era, this episode explores how a society is transformed when it is blindsided by biological disaster and administrative indifference. Key Topics Covered: The Information Vacuum: Comparing our modern “Ocean of Information” to the terrifying silence of the 1840s, where the sickly sweet smell of rot was a mystery without an immediate answer. The Folklore of Famine: Why stories like Hansel and Gretel and the Navajo Dine Bahane carry the genetic memory of starvation, and the specific Irish harbinger of death: the Fear Gorta . The Structural Cage: A deep dive into the Rundale system and Gavelkind inheritance…

Topics covered

  • Great Hunger in Ireland
  • famine and revolution
  • biological disaster
  • administrative indifference
  • folklore of famine
  • Rundale system
  • Gavelkind inheritance

Keywords

  • Fear Gorta
  • Hansel and Gretel
  • Navajo Dine Bahane
  • structural cage
  • subdivision
  • Ulster

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Information Vacuum:, The Folklore of Famine, Hansel and Gretel, The Structural Cage, The Ledger of the Dead, Every Delicacy of the Season’—Conspicuous Consumption During the Great Hunger, The Great Hunger: Ireland

Places: Ireland, Ulster, Dublin, London

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