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Ireland was deforested by the British, who needed wood for ships and wood to burn (industrial revolution before coal). It was also deforested in an attempt to
by tomohawk 7y ago
Ireland was deforested by the British, who needed wood for ships and wood to burn (industrial revolution before coal). It was also deforested in an attempt to quell the Irish attempts at independence. With no forests to hide in, it's harder to fight against an army. Prior to this, Ireland was heavily forested.
With no wood, Irish began to burn peat (their own soil) for heat and cooking. Eventually there was famine and a mass exodus.
The soil is now markedly different, and requires trees that can tolerate the ph.
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoIreland was mostly defeorested before the British even arrived. Though having arrived they did indeed make it worse.
- dalbasal 7y agoThat depends on who/what you consider "British" and what you consider "arrival." Is it the first time Viking/Germanic/scandi lowlanders permanently migrated, the first time normans take control of those settlements or the first time "English" lords displaced Gaelic speaking ones outside of cities and trade centres. Not sure strongbow was (a) British or (b) responsible for land use outside of his east coast enclaves.
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoWell I don't consider the Norman invaders of Britain and Ireland either British or English (or Irish!). That necessarily comes later. It took 300 years for the ruling class to even share the same language, sticking to Norman French.... English were the subjugated who were tending the field and cow for producing the ruler's french beef (bœuf). They still thought themselves French until the wars of succession. Danish adventures don't really count either, even with the Danelaw in parts of Britain. So we have to get to the time of the early English adventures around the 1600s for it to make a lot of sense, though it certainly does before British being a concept with the Scottish Act of Union uniting Britain. TL;DR it's complicated. :)