Editing Folly (section)

===Famine follies===
The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]] of Ireland of 1845–1849 led to the building of several follies in order to provide relief to the poor without issuing unconditional handouts. However, to hire the needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, construction projects termed "famine follies" came to be built. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points, screen and estate walls, piers in the middle of bogs, etc.<ref>Howley, James. 1993. ''The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland.'' New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-05577-3}}</ref>