The Great Irish Famine cleared a minimum of two million Irish individuals from the land by either death or emigration. These individuals, both those that died and those that left, did not have their needs met for many deep-seated political and economic reasons, but also because of failed communication practices. It is this latter, neglected aspect of famine studies that is the focus of this thesis By using the lexicon of communication studies, many controversial aspects of famine historv will be analysed and discussed.\ud
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Each of the five chapters that make up the body of this thesis focuses on one main aspect of interpersonal human communication and incorporates famine data into the concept or model. First, a basic profile of all the communicators that were involved in famine issues is given. The degree to which those communicators shared a field of common experience is shown to correspond with their level of communicative efficiency. Next, because the nature of communication is circular, there existed an ‘ideal’ model that would have preserved life and culture when famine struck In most circumstances, the circle of famine communication was thrown off track The details of a few of those derailments are described. Additionally, the publicly accepted ideologies of providentialism and political economy were at odds with the observable realities of the Irish Famine. In terms of human communication theory, the conflicts between the verbal and observational universes during the famine years are explained. Finally, the basic human components of all famine communication are those who were sending messages and those who were receiving messages. A final look at the senders and receivers is taken before the thesis is concluded.\ud
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The effects of the Great Irish Famine had world-wide impact. By viewing the events of that catastrophe through the lens of interpersonal human communication, it is anticipated that similar situations can be avoided in the future and a step toward the healing of cultural memory can be taken