Potato famine

Potato famine, in 19th-century Ireland, famine caused by potato blight. In 1845 and 1846 potato crops failed; in the subsequent famine nearly a million people died, and over a million emigrated, particularly to the United States. Ireland's population fell from about 8.5 million in 1845 to 6.55 million in 1851.

See also: Ireland.