21/12/2020
The Great Famine or Irish Potato Famine, as it is often referred to outside of Ireland, transpired between 1845 and 1849. The famine emerged when Ireland’s staple crop, the potato, was infected by fungus-like organisms known as Phytophthora infestans. These fungus-like organisms are also commonly referred to as potato blight.
By 1950, the Great Famine resulted in the death of one million Irish. The devastation also led nearly two million to emigrate out of the country. The mass death and emigration rates caused Ireland’s population to fall by 20–25 percent. Today, over 150 years after the famine, Ireland’s population still has not reached its pre-famine level. The current population of Ireland is just under 5 million. In 1840s Ireland, the population was around 8 million.
Ultimately, the famine was made worse by the government’s handling of the crisis. From 1801 to 1923, Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Therefore, during the Great Famine, Ireland was under British rule.
The British government did little to help starving farmers and still demanded that Ireland continue to export large quantities of their viable crops. Most of these crops, consisting of peas, beans, rabbits, fish, and honey, were exported to Great Britain.
The British government’s handling of the Great Famine led a little over a million poor Irish to die from starvation or disease. In 1997, British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a formal apology to Ireland for the U.K. government’s handling of the Great Famine.