A
t the start of the 19th century, Irish soldiers formed a considerable proportion of the British
army, and by 1830, there were more Irish than English soldiers in the army. Irish
regiments served in many parts of the world, and also had a role
in maintaining law and order in Ireland. Ireland became one of the
first parts of the United Kingdom to have a police force, when Sir
Robert Peel set up the Peace Preservation Force (PPF) in 1814. The
four provincial areas of the County Constabulary were merged to
form the Irish Constabulary in 1836, and Queen Victoria honoured
the police with the title "Royal Irish Constabulary" (RIC) in
1867, partly in recognition of their role in suppressing a rising
by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB).
The Napoleonic wars caused a boom in the
Irish economy and an increase in the value of exports. However,
the end of the war in 1815 brought a corresponding slump in
prices. A crisis in the woollen industry in England in 1825 led to
goods being sold at ruinous prices, accelerating the decline of
the woollen industry in Ireland. The cotton industry in Ulster
failed to keep up with trends towards steam weaving, and by 1838,
only 6 cotton mills were left in Belfast. However, wet-spinning of
flax had been introduced in Belfast and mass produced linen was
able to compete successfully in the textile market. By 1842, the
railway line from Belfast had been extended to Portadown, and the
Victoria channel had been cut to make the port much more suitable
for large ships.
Competition from the cotton industry pushed
down the wages of weavers in rural areas. In the 1841 census, over
half of the families in Ulster fell into the poorest category,
which included agricultural labourers, impoverished weavers and
holders of farms of less than five acres. The failure of the
potato crop in 1845 and 1846 brought tragedy to families already
living on the edge of subsistence, in spite of the efforts of
local relief committees, the government and charities. In 1847,
diseases such as typhus and relapsing fever claimed more victims.
It is estimated that over 200,000 people (about 9% of the
population) died in Ulster as a result of the potato famine, and
about the same number emigrated.
