There were many stone houses like the one above, they are famine houses. House that were abandoned during the potato famine of 1845-1852. These places no longer have the thatch roofs and are just empty reminders of the two million people that died or emigrated out of Ireland.
In 1844, a new form of potato blight was identified in America. It basically turned a potato into a mushy mess that was completely inedible. The American blight was first identified in France and the Isle of Wight in 1845. The summer of 1845 was mild but very wet in Britain. It was almost the perfect weather conditions for the blight to spread. The blight is still with us and is called ‘Phytophthora Infestans’ – an air carried fungus.
Between 1846 and 1850, the population of Ireland dropped by two million which represented 25% of the total population at the time. One million died of starvation or the diseases associated with the famine and one million emigrated to North America or parts of England.
On the high hillsides you can still see the rows where the potatoes rotted in the fields. These fields have been untouched since 1845.
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