The great famine in Ireland, fiches de synthèse et cours en Anglais LV1, Maxicours.com

In 1541, Henry VIII, the king of England, directly claimed the throne of Ireland. From then on, the land of Ireland was gradually taken over by English and Scottish settlers who obeyed the orders of the English kings.The Irish peasants often tried to rebel against their English landowners but they couldn't shake the yoke of their invaders.

English domination was completed in 1800 when the English Parliament voted the Union Act which made Ireland part of the United Kingdom. Political unrest then began in Ireland.
The situation was made worse by the fact that the Irish were mostly Catholics, whereas the English were