famine

🥔🇮🇪 What Was the Potato Famine?

The Potato Famine, often called the Great Irish Famine, was a catastrophic period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852.

It was one of the deadliest famines in modern European history.

A plant disease called potato blight (Phytophthora infestans) arrived in Europe and destroyed potato crops.

The majority of poor Irish farmers relied almost entirely on potatoes for food.
They grew mostly one variety (the “Lumper”), which had almost no resistance to blight.
When blight hit, the entire food supply for millions collapsed.

Potato crops fail across Ireland for the first time. Food shortages begin.

Blight destroys nearly all potatoes. Starvation sets in and food prices soar.

The worst year of the famine.
Soup kitchens operate, but starvation and disease kill hundreds of thousands.

Crops partially recover but blight continues.
Typhus, dysentery, and cholera spread.

Potato harvests gradually stabilize, though suffering continues.

1 million deaths (starvation + disease)
1–2 million emigrations, mainly to the U.S., Canada, and Britain
Drastic population decline — Ireland’s population has never returned to its pre-famine numbers
Major changes in Irish society, land use, and politics
Increased resentment toward British rule (because of inadequate relief and harmful policies)

Historians widely agree that British government policies made the famine far worse:

The famine became a symbol of British neglect and contributed to the later push for Irish independence.

The Irish diaspora (especially in the United States) largely traces back to the famine years.
It reshaped Irish culture, politics, and demographics.
It remains one of the most tragic events in Irish history.

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