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New analysis from the Edinburgh Enterprise College at Heriot-Watt College and Queen’s Enterprise College in Belfast has examined the impression of the Nice Irish Famine (1845–1852) on human top.
The analysis discovered that within the areas hardest-hit by the famine, survivors surprisingly didn’t show the anticipated stunting in top (a proxy for early-life well-being) normally related to malnutrition and illness. In some areas, the survivors’ common grownup top was corresponding to—and even barely higher than—that of people born earlier than or after the famine.
The research used historic information from 14,500 people with completely different exposures to famine circumstances drawn from two prisons in Dublin and Tipperary, born earlier than, throughout, and after the famine.
The findings had been lately revealed in Financial Historical past Assessment, coinciding with the a hundred and eightieth anniversary of the start of the Nice Irish Famine, one of many defining occasions in Irish historical past.
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The research revealed two results occurring concurrently, however to completely different extents:
Scarring: People born in the course of the famine exhibit diminished well being outcomes. This impact dominated in areas with low famine mortality, resembling Dublin.
Choice: Those that survived the famine had been, on common, the taller, extra strong people. Areas most affected by the famine, resembling in Tipperary, noticed a rise in common societal well being for survivors.
Professor Eoin McLaughlin from the Edinburgh Enterprise College at Heriot-Watt College stated, “This research reshapes how we understand the long-term effects of humanitarian disasters like famines. By distinguishing between scarring (lasting damage to survivors’ health) and selective mortality, it challenges simple assumptions that crises always leave a uniformly weakened population.”
Dr. Chris Colvin from Queen’s Enterprise College defined, “People born in severely affected areas resembling Tipperary exhibited no proof of stunted development, indicating that the famine disproportionately eradicated essentially the most susceptible.
“In contrast, stunting is observed only in areas with lower excess mortality, such as Dublin, where selective pressures were weaker. With the weakest in society succumbing to disease and starvation, this left only the healthiest to survive into adulthood. They grew up to be significantly taller than average.”
Dr. Matthias Blum, Honorary Professor of Observe at Queen’s Enterprise College and Economist on the German Medical Affiliation, commented, “The work deepens public and academic understanding of how the Great Irish Famine shaped the Irish population—not just in terms of death and emigration, but in the long-term health legacy it left behind.”
Dr. Colvin added, “These findings contribute to debates on the biological consequences of extreme catastrophic risks, demonstrating how selection effects can obscure long-term health deterioration. More broadly, our study provides a methodological framework for assessing selection in historical anthropometric research.”
The analysis staff included Professor McLaughlin from Edinburgh Enterprise College at Heriot-Watt College, Dr. Colvin from Queen’s Enterprise College, and Dr. Blum, Honorary Professor of Observe at Queen’s Enterprise College and Economist on the German Medical Affiliation.
Extra data:
Matthias Blum et al, Scarring and Choice within the Nice Irish Famine, The Financial Historical past Assessment (2025). DOI: 10.1111/ehr.70013
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Analysis reveals impression of Nice Irish Famine on human top (2025, August 15)
retrieved 15 August 2025
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