Potato fmaine

Potato fmaine

To what extent was mass mortality the most important consequence of the Irish Potato Famine (1845-51)?
‘The Great Famine’ was an unexpected turn of events in Irish history that began in 1845. The summer of that year saw the Irish potato crop suffer the blight: a disease that infected almost every potato harvest in the country. By 1946, the blight had spread across Ireland and three-quarters of the potato crop was wiped out. As the potato was the staple food of Ireland, millions were haunted by the prospect of a famine that would prove to be devastating for the entire country. The most significant consequence of the famine is a fiercely debated topic and many would argue that the huge loss of life and mass mortality was the most important consequence. However, other variables like emigration, poor response from the British government, the resultant growth in Irish nationalism, and rural and economic improvement. All of these are arguably as, if not more significant consequences of the famine.
The most horrific consequence of the Great Famine was the death of over 1 million Irish people. Death became rife in the latter years of the famine as starvation took its toll and disease began to spread. In 1941, census figures show that the population of Ireland stood at over 8 million people. In 1851, the year of the next census this figure had dropped to 6 million. The census commissioner* estimated that in this time, the Irish population should have grown to 9 million. Data was collected in 1851 to assess the number of people who died in each family since 1841and the causes of their deaths. They recorded 21,770 total deaths from starvation in the previous decade, and 400,720 deaths from disease. Listed diseases were fever, dysentery, cholera, smallpox, and influenza. Since the famine, the Irish population has never recovered. The decline of the Irish population was only kick started by the huge death toll caused by the famine but as a result of the massive loss of...

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