Irish Thought for May 2...

Irish History

1845-1852

The Great Famine or an Gorta Mór or as those outside of Ireland call it The Irish Potato Famine


In Ireland, the Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852.  During the famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the island's population to fall by between 20% and 25%.  The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight.   Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland – where one-third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food – was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.  The impact of the famine resulted in the Irish to refer to times as "pre-famine" or "post-famine" because the famine changed every facet of the country's actions.