Causes/Affects of the Irish Famine

The Irish Potato Famine was the worst

tragedy in the history of Ireland. The outcome of the

famine would result in hundreds of thousands dead, the failure of the economy in Ireland, and

emigrants forced to leave their homes and country just to try to survive.

In the mid 1800s there were many seasons that produced poor crops, and in some cases no

potatoes at all. These seasons were taken

lightly, and just thought to be bad crop seasons. After these

bad seasons, farmers became upset and began to grow poorer quality potatoes known as ‘Lumper

potatoes’ or ‘Horse potatoes’ instead of the

stronger, healthier potatoes. These new potatoes were

originally grown for feed for farm animals and

were more prone to disease, but because they grew

the poorest conditions possible, humans would

have to eat them due to the loss of the healthier

In 1845 a crop disease known as ‘blight’

would be introduced to Ireland. It was a disease

would cause potatoes to rot while they grew. The Irish discovered the problem when they found that

they were harvesting black potatoes. At first

they blamed the problem on poor weather, or

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Prime Minister, Potato Famine, Lawrence River, Ireland America, Coffin Ships, Especially England, America England, healthier potatoes, , caused people, typhus fever, immigrants ships, potato famine, citizens care, people died, ireland america, famine irish,
Approximate Word count = 1132
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)