Kate Nash has used a cover of Sinéad O'Connor's Famine to explore Irish history, heritage and Britain's role in the famine. The singer and activist says the project grew from her own sense that many English people are disconnected from parts of their history.
For Nash, who was born in London to an Irish mother, the project is also personal: she attended a Catholic school, spent childhood holidays in the Republic of Ireland and says the first instrument she learned was the tin whistle, despite long claiming it was the piano. Revisiting the song more than three decades later, she said she was struck not only by its message, but by how little she knew about the subject herself.
For her latest video Kate Nash collaborated with artist and activist Tia O'Donnell, who embroidered the phrase "The English Don't Know Their History" onto a duvet.
Why did Kate Nash choose to cover Famine?
Nash said the song gave her the history lesson she had not received at school or at home. Speaking to NI ahead of a performance in Belfast as part of this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann fringe programme, she said the cover was a way to open a wider conversation about the famine and how it is remembered in Britain.
"Sinéad gave me the whole history lesson that school never gave me, that I didn't really get at home either," Nash told NI ahead of a performance in Belfast as part of this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann fringe programme.
She also clarified what she meant when she said English people do not know their own history.
"When I'm saying the English don't know their history, I'm also English.
"So I'm saying, I don't know my history… and I want to learn."
Nash, who released her debut album almost 20 years ago, says her latest project is hugely personal
While working in the United States more than a decade ago, Kate met music producer Kool Kojak and was encouraged to explore her Irish heritage through music. After O'Connor's death in 2023, he suggested recording Famine.
"I was like, 'oh my God, that's so audacious, only an American could suggest that'," Nash said.
"The tradition of covering old folk songs, passing music through is really important. And the more people that cover that song really the better, because you can bring that message, the education, to a new audience."
Rather than simply replicate the original, Nash rewrote parts of the song and added a new verse reflecting her own experience of dual identity.
"England doesn't take responsibility for destruction that it's caused, for its empire and now commonwealth, they left us uninformed", she sings, echoing wider debates about how Britain's imperial past is taught and remembered.
How do historians view the debate?
Enda Delaney, professor of modern history and director of research at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, said Nash's view was "fair comment". He said Anglo-Irish history is not routinely taught to English students in the same way it is in the Republic of Ireland, leaving a gap in public understanding.
"The fact that one million people died in a part of the United Kingdom, which of course Ireland was in the 1840s... there isn't a really good knowledge of the context in which those terrible events occurred."
He said there should be greater emphasis on Irish history in schools and pointed to growing interest in the subject at university level.
"When you've got two societies which are so closely located to each other and so deeply intertwined, it's really important that both Irish people and British people understand those shared points of history."
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Nash said she had discussed the issue with educators and believes they need more support.
"There's a lot of pressure on teachers… they need to be empowered to teach difficult topics," she said.
"Sometimes they rely on lessons they've already developed because they don't have time or resources to introduce new material."
The Department for Education, which oversees the curriculum in English maintained schools, said Ireland and the UK "have a uniquely shared history, relevant not just to the millions of British citizens of Irish descent but the country as a whole".
"The national curriculum provides a core frame within which teachers can take the opportunity to teach about Britain and Ireland in the 19th Century, including the Great Famine," a spokesperson told NI.
"A revitalised curriculum "will go further to strengthen pupils' understanding", they added.
"This will give teachers a clear framework to bring in a wide range of topics, including those that are challenging or uncomfortable."
What is the historical context of the Irish famine?
More than one million people died during the Irish famine between 1845 and 1852, when Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, and about two million emigrated over the following decade. It was triggered by potato blight which spread across Europe.
In 1997, Tony Blair issued a landmark statement, acknowledging that the British government failed the Irish people during this time. However it later emerged it was neither written, nor approved by him.
That debate sits at the centre of both O'Connor's and Nash's interpretation of Famine.
O'Connor's Famine was released on her fourth studio album, Universal Mother, in 1994
Robert Tombs, professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge and founding editor of History Reclaimed, argued the British government relief efforts should be judged against the economic realities of the 1840s.
"If the Irish famine were to be taught, it should counter the myth that it was caused or aggravated by Britain," he said.
While Irish farmers did export some food to Britain, "it was dwarfed by the amount being brought in for distribution by the UK government", he added.
As ministers grappled with high food prices and moved to repeal the Corn Laws, (tariffs on grain that kept the price of bread artificially high), the government, led by Sir John Peel, imported large quantities of maize and expanded relief schemes that at one stage fed about three million people a day.
However, the maize proved difficult to mill and distribute.
Rowan Gillespie's Famine Memorial in Dublin is a commemorative work dedicated to the victims of the Great Famine
The UK Parliament has acknowledged the next government led by Lord John Russell "did not handle the famine effectively", external.
Direct food distribution programmes were dismantled and legislation was introduced to place the financial onus for famine relief on Irish landowners, who in turn attempted to save money by ejecting tenants.
"It is possible to say that more could have been done, but there was a serious risk of financial meltdown," Tombs reasoned.
"He has suggested that history should be approached through "careful interpretation of complex evidence", rather than political narratives.
How does this fit into wider Irish identity and heritage?
Nash's exploration of Irish history also places her in a long tradition of second-generation Irish artists examining their heritage. Prof Sean Campbell, whose research focuses on popular culture and the Irish diaspora in Britain, said artists including Kevin Rowland, the frontman of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Shane MacGowan and members of Oasis had done the same.
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Campbell explained that second-generation Irish identity is often misunderstood, with artistic expressions of that heritage frequently provoking mixed reactions.
"They grew up feeling Irish. It was just an organic sense of identity."
Artists he said, did not simply "decide to become Irish".
But of the many second-generation, political pop efforts, he said Nash's recent recording stands out for being so "overt".
"She's tackling one of the really big issues in Anglo-Irish politics and history," he said.
"It's quite a brave thing to do."
Nash has been a vocal activist for musicians' rights, as well as speaking out on topics such as sex education, domestic abuse, transphobia and other social issues
Nash believes that while many people in England engage with Irish culture, they are avoiding harder conversations about history.
"For English people, it's really important to appreciate more than just the food and the culture and the Guinness," she said.
"We need history, we need context, we need to understand things."
Kate Nash performs at The Mac in Belfast on 6 August as part of the fringe programme for the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.
Key Facts
- Kate Nash has covered Sinéad O'Connor's Famine as part of a project about Irish history and identity.
- Nash was born in London to an Irish mother and says the song helped fill gaps in her education about the famine.
- The Irish famine killed more than one million people between 1845 and 1852, and about two million emigrated over the following decade.
- Nash is due to perform at The Mac in Belfast on 6 August as part of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann fringe programme.
