Glasnevin Cemetery

Besides the many celebrities, thousands of victims of the famine are also buried here.

The Irish Famine, also known as the Great Famine or Potato Famine (Irish: An Gorta Mór), was a period of severe food shortages in Ireland between 1845 and 1850. More than a million people died and millions more emigrated, mainly to the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and Canada.

The direct cause of the disaster was the potato blight Phytophthora infestans, which largely destroyed the potato crop, the staple food of the poor Irish. In 1845, up to two-thirds of the harvest failed; by 1846, more than 90% was affected. The population's reliance on monoculture and poor living conditions made them particularly vulnerable.

In addition to the famine, epidemics such as typhoid fever and cholera caused even more deaths.

The British government continued to export food from Ireland, further worsening the situation. The population fell from eight to approximately six million in ten years, due to mortality and emigration.

Pascal Brackman