The famine of 1845 to 1852, when the water mold Phytophthora infestans destroyed the potato crop Ireland's rural poor depended on; how much of the resulting mass death and emigration is attributable to the blight itself, as against the British government's response, remains debated. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Whether the death toll reflects the potato blight itself or was substantially worsened by British government policy (continued food exports, the limits of relief works and poor-law provision) is debated among historians; contemporaries such as John Mitchel held the government directly responsible.
Facts
Milestone YearThe year the blight first struck; the famine ran to 1852. Classification
Type/ClassificationAgricultural Famine or Disaster 1 Connections
Associated With
The potato late blight behind the Irish famine, caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans, is one of the founding cases that shaped the discipline.
Source Wikipedia: Plant pathology
Potato, Crops Source Great Famine, Ireland (Wikipedia)
Source British Parliament Repeals the Corn Laws (EBSCO Research Starters)
Caused By
Proximately caused by Phytophthora infestans; dependence on a near-monoculture of a few potato varieties is what made the blight a famine
Source Great Famine, Ireland (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Great Famine, Ireland (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articleQuote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
The Great Famine, also known as the Great Hunger (Irish: an Gorta Mór [ənˠ ˈɡɔɾˠt̪ˠə ˈmˠoːɾˠ]), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852.
Sources
1. John Mitchel (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationResponds to the Famine section
The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine, and a million and a half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government.
lead description (milestone-kind)
The famine of 1845 to 1852, when the water mold Phytophthora infestans destroyed the potato crop Ireland's rural poor depended on; how much of the resulting mass death and emigration is attributable to the blight itself, as against the British government's response, remains debated.
View the Source 2. Great Famine, Ireland (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia: Plant pathology
British Parliament Repeals the Corn Laws (EBSCO Research Starters)
EBSCO Information ServicesAssociated With: Repeal of the Corn Laws, bodyQuote, Associated With: Repeal of the Corn Laws, body
the potato harvest in Ireland failed almost entirely. In the face of this situation and Cobden's exploitation of it in debates in Parliament, Peel became convinced of the need for immediate repeal of the Corn Laws.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Description
The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine, and a million and a half men, women and children were carefully, prudently and peacefully slain by the English government.
A dissenting reading, from John MitchelJohn Mitchel (Wikipedia), Wikimedia Foundation
Essays About This Entity (1 essay)
The Pathogen Behind a Famine
The Irish potato famine: the essay's own subject, cited here so a reader can move from the pathogen to the famine it fed and back.
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