Queen Victoria and the Irish post-famine context: a royal visit

Queen Victoria, whose reign spanned sixty-four years from 1837 to 1901, had a complex and intriguing relationship with Ireland. She expressed interest, even affection for Ireland at times; but as her reign continued into the later nineteenth century, Irish historical and social circumstances grew more nationalistic and republican and her attitude to the Irish became more hardened and mistrusting. In this paper, I will examine the background, circumstances and achievement, real and apparent, of her first visit to Ireland. It took place in 1849 just one year after the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-8, which resulted in more than one million of the population perishing from hunger and at least another million taking the emigrant path to the Americas and elsewhere with a number of them not surviving the long sea journeys. The purpose of the paper is twofold: (a) to discuss the facts pertaining to the visit; and (b) to offer some critical insights on the actual impact the visit may have had on an impoverished country that had just been ravaged by a severe famine.