Umm,,,I think it might be around 8 million.But that might be before not during but it still might be roughly the same?
Ireland's Famine was caused mainly by Blight and a sudden increase in Population
The potato famine in Ireland which was caused by the potato blight killed in the region of 2 million people out of a pre-famine population of 9 million, and it started emigration to America, Canada, Australia and other places, displacing another one million during the famine, and many more since.
During the 1840s, potato blight affected potatoes in Ireland, causing a famine.
Potato.
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)
During the period from 1845 to 1852, Ireland suffered a famine due to the potato crop getting potato blight which destroyed the crop.
At that time, the was a potato blight in the west of Ireland, which is referred to as the Great Famine. Prior to this, Irish population was at its highest. People left on ships to work on plantations, or escape the blight. Most left because of evictions. They mainly went to: US, Australia and England. Even when the blight was gone, people continued to leave, looking for jobs, or even family. Irish population has still not recovered from the Famine.
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.
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.