The Irish Potato Famine

Day 306 / 365

It’s a stereotype about Irish people that they like potatoes. Back in the 1800s, the potato was indeed a crucial part of the Irish diet, but this was partially due to the “Corn Laws” and tariffs on grain that the British Government had imposed, which made corn and bread expensive.

In 1845 a fungus-like organism rapidly spread across Ireland. It ruined about half of the potato crop that year. This lead to what is now known as “The Great Hunger” or the Irish Potato famine. Back then the population of Ireland was about 8 million. By 1852, when the potato crop finally recovered, the population had dropped to 5 million. Roughly a million people died from starvation, and many more were forced to leave their homelands.

Even during the famine, the British continued to take large quantities of food from Ireland. Even when its own people were starving to death, Ireland was forced to export commodities like peas, beans, rabbits, and honey.

To this day the population in Ireland has still not recovered fully to its pre-famine levels. There are currently about 4.9 million people living in Ireland.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — The UK TV License