Irish Potato Famine summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Great Famine.

Irish Potato Famine, (1845–49)Famine that occurred in Ireland when the potato crop failed in successive years. By the early 1840s almost half the Irish population, particularly the rural poor, was depending almost entirely on the potato for nourishment. Reliance on only one or two high-yielding varieties made the crop vulnerable to disease, including late blight, caused by the water mold Phytophthora infestans, which ruined the crop. The British government provided minimal relief to the starving Irish, limited to loans and soup kitchens. The famine was a watershed in Ireland’s demographic history: about one million people died from starvation or famine-related diseases, and perhaps as many as two million emigrated. Population continued to decline thereafter, and by independence in 1921 the Irish population was barely half of the 8.4 million it had been before the famine.

human migration Summary

Human migration, the permanent change of residence by an individual or group; it excludes such movements as nomadism, migrant labour, commuting, and tourism, all of which are transitory in nature. A brief treatment of human migration follows. For further discussion, see population: Migration.

Ireland Summary

Ireland, country of western Europe occupying five-sixths of the westernmost major island of the British Isles. The magnificent scenery of Ireland’s Atlantic coastline faces a 2,000-mile- (3,200-km-) wide expanse of ocean, and its geographic isolation has helped it to develop a rich heritage of

famine Summary

Famine, severe and prolonged hunger in a substantial proportion of the population of a region or country, resulting in widespread and acute malnutrition and death by starvation and disease. Famines usually last for a limited time, ranging from a few months to a few years. They cannot continue

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell Summary

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell was the prime minister of Great Britain (1846–52, 1865–66), an aristocratic liberal and leader of the fight for passage of the Reform Bill of 1832. Russell was the third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. (As the younger son of a peer, he was known for most of