Chronology of the Great Famine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The chronology of the Great Famine (Irish: An Gorta Mór[1] or An Drochshaol, lit. 'The Bad Life') documents a period of Irish history between 29 November 1845 and 1852[2] during which time the population of Ireland was reduced by 20 to 25 percent.[3] The proximate cause was famine resulting from a potato disease commonly known as late blight.[4] Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland – where a third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food but which also produced an abundance of other food – was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.[5][6]
Main article: Great Famine (Ireland)