Potato.
Potato blight.
Potato Blight
Yes, Potato blight is endemic in Ireland and Europe, but today a variety of types of potato are grown some of which are blight resistant and we also have chemical sprays that can kill the fungus. The trouble with the blight in the past was that there were no sprays and only one variety of potato was grown and when a blight evolved to attack this variety, it meant that ALL the Irish crop was hit and this lead to famine.
The potato blight.
I think the potato blight first arrived in Cork onboard ships from the US, then spread to the rest of Ireland
The English, who had no use for the Irish, spread the potato blight germs around on the potato fields so that they could get rid of as many Irish as possible. It largely worked - millions of Irish either starved to death or immigrated to other nations, like Canada and the USA. (That's why my greatgreatgreatgreatgreat grandfather came to America)
Ireland had a potato famine, caused by potato blight. It ran from 1845 to 1849. As a result of the dependency of people on potatoes at that time, millions died or emigrated, causing a major reduction in Ireland's population. Before the famine it was over 8 million. It still hasn't reached that level again, with the population now over 6 million.
The potato blight and the British abandoned Ireland and let everyone to die
Initially it destroyed the potato crop. This led to hunger and famine and many people dying or leaving Ireland, severely reducing the population, which still has not reached the same levels as they were before the famine began in 1845.
During the period from 1845 to 1852, Ireland suffered a famine due to the potato crop getting potato blight which destroyed the crop.
potato blight are potato mold,potato disease,potato mildew and potato murrain.