What if the Ottoman Empire succeeded in making their 10,000 pound donation to help the Irish during the famine? How would the scandal affect British-Irish relations and British-Turkey relations?

[u/jacky986]

So according to a Ted-Ed video, during the Irish Potato Famine the Ottoman Sultan had planned to donate 10,000 pounds for famine relief. However, he was talked down to 1,000 pounds to avoid embarrassing the British Monarch Queen Victoria who had only donated a measly 2,000 pounds for famine relief.

But what if the Ottoman Empire had found a way to donate the other 9,000 pounds to help the Irish like through the Quakers who were providing humanitarian relief to the Irish however they could.

How would the scandal affect British-Irish relations and British-Turkey relations?

[u/figbore]

A. The ottoman thing didn't happen.

B. It wouldn't have made much difference. The British public donated hundreds of thousands of pounds to famine relief and the British government spent far more than that on various famine relief attempts. The charities feeding the Catholics weren't providing the food out of their own pockets. So 10k would have been nice, but largely hidden amongst the much larger effort.

[u/Dadavester]

That is a Myth and never happened,

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/geore1/did_an_ottoman_sultan_really_donate_food_and/

[u/Detozi]

‘Irish Famine’ will do thanks.
Nothing to do with potatoes

[u/Ilikechocolateabit]

Take the original claim with a pinch of salt

[u/SmellsLikeHoboSpirit]

Wheter it is classified as a famine or genocide is the subject of debate and I would certainly lean towards it being a genocide. The British administrator to Ireland Trevelyen at the time said:

"The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people."

If it is true that the Ottoman Empire offered so much aid then it absolutely likely that the British administration didn't let it through because the starvation of the Irish Catholic was convenient for them. If it had got through then we would likely see far greater relatoins between Ireland and Turkey today.

The Choctaw Nation got aid through and to this day there are full university grants in Ireland available for members of the Choctaw nation and commemerations.

As for how the scandal would affect Irish-British relations today? Well it would only be added to the list of scandals and war crimes commited in Ireland by British forces. It wouldn't really change anything.

[u/grainne0]

The donation was also in part to curry favour with the British monarchy. The sultan didn't donate out of the goodness his heart, especially when you read about what he did to hhs own people. It's a nice story but the more I've read on it the more I'm convinced that the donation was more so to help British Turkey relations.

[u/KnightofTorchlight]

If such a donation happened, laundered sufficiently through other interests, its debatable if it has much of a long term impact. Irish deaths do go down modesty, but its hard for the Irish to begrudge the British government more in the midst of the famine and  those receiving the charity would see it coming via the socially acceptable intermediaries (American Protestant churches, in your case). Those groups' presence in Ireland might earn some converts and smooth migration to the United States via the intermediaries, but the Ottoman funding source remains obscured in the immediate public perception. Even if London is aware, they benefit from playing along with fiction.