famine, Ireland, French famine relief, Catholic church in France, Franco-Prussian War
This study focuses on a little known topic: French famine relief for Ireland during the Great Famine of the 1840s but also throughout subsequent decades of food shortages in Ireland. It analyses the texts of sermons preached (at Papal insistence) in every Catholic church in France at various points throughout those years imploring for famine relief for the starving Irish. These texts are little known and have never before been the focus of scholarly attention.