Research reveals impact of Great Famine on survivors’ height

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Areas hardest hit by the Great Irish Famine did not experience an expected stunting in height of the population, new academic research has found.

The research from Queen’s Business School in Belfast and Edinburgh Business School has examined the impact of one of the defining events in Irish history.

The research found that in some regions, the survivors’ average adult height was comparable to – or even slightly greater than – that of individuals born before or after the famine.

Around one million people died from starvation or disease in the famine from 1845-52.

A stunting of height is usually associated with malnutrition and disease.

The study used the historical data of 14,500 individuals, with different exposures to famine conditions and drawn from two prisons in Dublin and Tipperary, born before, during and after the famine.

The findings have been published in Economic History Review, coinciding with the 180th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Irish Famine.

The study revealed that individuals born during the famine exhibited reduced health outcomes. This effect dominated in areas with low famine mortality, such as Dublin.

It also showed that those who survived the famine were, on average, the taller, more robust individuals. Areas most affected by the famine such as in Tipperary saw an increase in average societal health for survivors.

Dr Chris Colvin, from Queen’s Business School, said: “Individuals born in severely affected regions such as Tipperary exhibited no evidence of stunted growth, indicating that the famine disproportionately eliminated the most vulnerable.

“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.”

Professor Eoin McLaughlin, from Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University, said: “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 Matthias Blum, honorary professor of practice at Queen’s Business School and economist at the German Medical Association, said: “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.”