1845

Phytophthora infestans

• Summer 1845 — Blight spores, transported in apparently healthy potato cargo, revive in Belgium and devastate crops across Flanders, Normandy, Holland, and southern England.
  • Source: Ireland's Great Hunger Museum, "The Potato Blight" — https://www.ighm.org/learn.html
  • Quote: "The invisible fungus spores were transported to Belgium in a cargo of apparently healthy potatoes, and in the summer of 1845 the fungus revived and reproduced, devastating the potato crop in Flanders, Normandy, Holland and southern England." — IGHM, "The Potato Blight."
• August 1845 — Blight recorded at the Dublin Botanical Gardens; total crop failure reported in County Fermanaghwithin one week. By October, panic in western Ireland.
  • Source: Ireland's Great Hunger Museum, "The Potato Blight" — https://www.ighm.org/learn.html
  • Quote: "By August of 1845 the blight was recorded at the Dublin Botanical Gardens, and a week later, a total failure of the crop was reported in County Fermanagh." — IGHM, "The Potato Blight."
• 1845–1852 — The Irish Potato Famine (An Gorta Mór). Approximately one million die, over two million emigrate. Ireland's population falls from ~8.5 million to 6.6 million by 1851 and continues declining to 4.4 million by 1901.
  • Source: Nature Communications, "Evolution of Phytophthora infestans on its potato host since the Irish potato famine" (2024) — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50749-4
  • Quote: "This epidemic (1845–1852) had profound consequences in Ireland, leading to the Irish Famine which resulted in the death of about 1 million people and the emigration of another 1 million people, as potatoes were a staple food." — Nature Communications (2024), Introduction.

Irish Potato Famine

Summer 1845 — Blight spores, transported in apparently healthy potato cargo, revive in Belgium and devastate crops across Flanders, Normandy, Holland, and southern England.

Source: Ireland's Great Hunger Museum, "The Potato Blight" — https://www.ighm.org/learn.html

Quote: "The invisible fungus spores were transported to Belgium in a cargo of apparently healthy potatoes, and in the summer of 1845 the fungus revived and reproduced, devastating the potato crop in Flanders, Normandy, Holland and southern England." — IGHM, "The Potato Blight."

August 1845 — Blight recorded at the Dublin Botanical Gardens; within weeks, total crop failure reported in County Fermanagh. By October, panic spreads in the west of Ireland.

Source: Ireland's Great Hunger Museum, "The Potato Blight" — https://www.ighm.org/learn.html

Quote: "By August of 1845 the blight was recorded at the Dublin Botanical Gardens, and a week later, a total failure of the crop was reported in County Fermanagh. By October, there was panic in the west of Ireland as the blight destroyed healthy potatoes harvested in August." — IGHM, "The Potato Blight."

November 1845 — Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel establishes the Relief Commission and secretly imports Indian corn (maize) from the United States to sell at cost, attempting to keep food prices down.

Source: UK Parliament, "The Great Famine" — https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliamentandireland/overview/the-great-famine/

Great Famine Relief Efforts

1845

• September 1845 — Potato blight (Phytophthora infestans) first reported in Ireland. A government inquiry initially concluded the crop was "unusually heavy" and would compensate for losses; a second inquiry in October revealed serious failure in 17 of 32 counties.
  • Source: Dudley-Edwards, R. & Williams, T.D., The Great Famine: Studies in Irish History 1845–52, Lilliput Press, 1956 (reprinted 1997).
  • Quote: "A government inquiry concluded that, although there had been failures, the crop was also unusually heavy and that the extra crop would compensate for the loss." — Ch. on Peel's Relief Programme.

• October–November 1845 — Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel established a Scientific Commission to seek cures for the blight (none found) and a Relief Commission under Sir Randolph Routh to coordinate relief measures. Peel also began pushing for repeal of the Corn Laws to allow duty-free grain imports.
  • Source: Peter Gray, "A Policy Disaster: British Famine Relief Measures," RTÉ History (2020)
  • Quote: "Inquiries into the scale and nature of the failure were carried out, although a 'scientific commission' failed to establish the cause of or a remedy for the blight."

• November 1845 — Peel authorized the purchase of £100,000 worth of Indian corn (maize) from the United States and £46,000 from Britain, enough to feed one million people for a month, to be distributed from depots at cost price.
  • Source: Wesley Johnston, "Peel's Relief Programme to July 1846," http://wesleyjohnston.com (citing Ó Gráda, The Great Irish Famine, Cambridge UP, 1989).
  • Quote: "In November 1845, £105,000 worth of Maize was imported from the USA and £46,000 from Britain. This was enough food to feed a million people for a month."
• Late 1845 — Peel authorized locally funded public works schemes and grants to stimulate formation of district relief committees composed of landowners, clergy, and local notables to distribute or sell subsidised food. At peak, these works employed approximately 140,000 people and sustained roughly 700,000.
  • Source: Wesley Johnston, "Peel's Relief Programme to July 1846," http://wesleyjohnston.com (citing Dudley-Edwards & Williams, 1956).
  • Quote: "These measures sustained 700,000 people and, although the salaries they paid were very low, were the main reason that there were very few deaths in 1845."

Irish Emigrant Society

• 1845–1854 — Famine-era remittance flows and “prepaid tickets” accelerate chain emigration; the Irish Emigrant Society expands activities and founds the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank (1850).
  • Source: National Museum of Ireland (Folklife) page on Irish emigration to America.[[3]](https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Folklife-Collections/Folklife-Collections-List-%281%29/Other/Emigration/Irish-Emigration-to-America-The-Journey)
  • Quote: “The Irish Emigrant Society of New York expanded its activities to found the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank in 1850. This made it possible to more easily send remittances home to Ireland.”[[3]](https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Folklife-Collections/Folklife-Collections-List-%281%29/Other/Emigration/Irish-Emigration-to-America-The-Journey)