Don’t Blame the Pathogens

Everyone and their mother is familiar with Irish potatoes. But a little-known fact is that they don’t originate from Ireland as their name suggests. However, that’s not the myth we’re about to debunk. Today, history buffs remember the Great Famine that ravaged Ireland in 1845.

While a deadly pathogen caused the crop to fail, that’s not the whole story. Sadly, Ireland lost as much as 30% of its population, but that figure should have been less. One key factor that worsened the tragedy was English overlords, who rejected boatloads of food sent to Ireland to ease the effect of the famine.