What Caused The Irish Potato Famine

The 1845 Great Irish Potato Famine negatively affected Ireland and its people. Due to this famine, many factors resulted from it and changed the course of Irish history. Three of these factors are reduced population, decline of the Gaelic language, and increased harshness of the Irish landlords. The Great Potato Famine was caused by a type of fungus called potato blight, which caused the potatoes to become mushy and inedible (Trueman). The 1846 potato crop was a failure due to this fungus and continued to destroy the 1847 crop as well (Trueman). As a result of the famine, the Irish population decreased rapidly due to emigration, illness, and starvation. First, many people wanted to escape the risk of starvation, and around 1.75 million Irish emigrated from Ireland to
Thousands of deaths resulted from these poor conditions, not only on the ship but after landing in America or Britain as well (Powell 699). Second, illness and starvation played a great role in decreasing the Irish population. The two most common diseases during the famine were relapsing fever and typhus (Connolly 239). Relapsing fever, also known as yellow fever, is rather self-explanatory. It is a fever accompanied by relapses and usually comes through the skin (Connolly 239). Typhus was a disease that “affected the small blood vessels, especially the brain and skin vessels, which explains frequently described symptoms of delirium and stupor and the distinctive spotted rash” (Connolly 239). It is easy to tell how serious these diseases are to old and young, and they caused a countless number of deaths especially with the rich (Connolly 239). The statistics of an Irish census shows how much the Irish population actually decreased: “An 1851 census placed Ireland’s population at slightly more than 6.5 million people, 1.5 million fewer than ten years earlier. Allowing for a normal rate of increase if the famine had not occurred, the net decline was about 2.5 million people”