The Great Irish Famine was caused by the repeated failure of the potato crop, on which a large part of the Irish population depended, after a blight reached Ireland in 1845. About a million people died of starvation and disease, and at least another million left the country, many of them for the United States, Canada and Britain. The catastrophe was made worse by the policies of the British government, which continued to export food from Ireland and gave inadequate relief, and by the system of land ownership that left tenant farmers vulnerable to eviction. The population of Ireland, which had been about eight million before the famine, fell steadily for decades afterwards. The famine left a deep mark on Irish memory and shaped Irish nationalism and the Irish diaspora.
Before and after
- 15 October 1844Birth of Friedrich Nietzsche
- 23 October 1844Birth of Sarah Bernhardt
- 25 November 1844Birth of Carl Benz
- 21 December 1844Publication of The Snow Queen
- from 1845 to 1852Great Irish Famine
- 29 January 1845Publication of The Raven
- 26 February 1845Birth of Alexander III of Russia
- 3 March 1845Birth of Georg Cantor
- from 11 March 1845 to 11 January 1846Flagstaff War
More in Society, economy & sport
- 25 March 1807Britain abolishes the slave trade
- from 19 July 1848 to 20 July 1848The Seneca Falls Convention
- 14 September 1867Karl Marx publishes Das Kapital
- 1869Founding of Goldman Sachs
- 1874Founding of Universal Postal Union
- 29 November 1899Founding of FC Barcelona
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.