Illustration, ‘Potato disease in Ireland: timely measures to check it’, from the Penny Illustrated Paper, 15 November 1890 (LMILC.1996.21, purchased)
The Irish Famine of 1845-52, in which 1 million people died from starvation and disease, was caused by the spread of Phytophthora infestans or potato blight. The disease destroyed much of Ireland’s staple food, the potato, over consecutive harvests. Blight affected other European countries, but it was felt most severely in Ireland and Scotland where the poorest in society depended on the potato. It did not cost much to grow, one plant produced many potatoes, and they were high in nutrients.
Blight would continue to be a problem. This illustration, which was published 40 years after the famine, shows some of the measures that were taken to mitigate the spread of the disease:
- Boiling and packing partially diseased potatoes
- Burning stalks
- Poor Law inspection: investigating potato blight
- Ploughing out potatoes