The Great Hunger

In 1845, potato blight caused the catastrophic destruction of Ireland's potato crop, which ultimately caused the deaths of about one million Irish people.

- Janine Ryan

The potato is not indigenous to Ireland; it was introduced to the country in 1590, and grew in importance as more and more people there began to plant the crop. By the 18th century, it had become a staple, and was perhaps the most important crop for poor and working-class Irish people. Then, in mid-1845, Ireland’s small population of around 8,5 million people suffered a catastrophe when potato blight (Phytophthora infestans) began to spread throughout the country.

This initial infestation saw Ireland lose around half of its national potato crop, and about three-quarters of the crop was lost every year over the next seven years. The disaster eventually led to the starvation of approximately a million people in Ireland, and the emigration of at least a million more.

This harrowing period became known as the Irish Potato Famine, or the Great Hunger.

THE POLITICAL CONTEXT

In 1845, Ireland was still a British colony, as the Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland had been ratified in 1801. Accordingly, the British government appointed Ireland’s executive heads of state.

Ireland had 105 representatives in the House of Commons and 28 titled landowners in the House of Lords in the British Parliament. While these representatives were elected by Irish citizens, many were either landowners of British origin or related to these landowners.

Catholics were banned from owning land, voting or holding elected office, which ruled out the vast majority of Ireland’s population at the time. These regulations, known as the Penal Laws, were abolished in 1829, but their impact remained for decades afterwards, affecting Irish society and governance during the Great Hunger.