On the 9th of September 1845, the Dublin Evening Post officially reported that the Potato Blight had arrived in Ireland. The disease had previously been reported in Belgium, but this was the first time that it had been spotted in Ireland. It is thought that the first outbreak of Blight may have occured in Waterford, though there is no concrete proof that it had not previously been unreported elsewhere. Prior to the arrival of Blight, the Irish people had become hugely over-dependent on the potato as their primary source of nutrition.
The Blight would go on to have a highly documented catastrophic effect on the entire island as the people starved to death, languished in Workhouses, and left on boats in their droves.
The Irish population has never recovered from the Great Hunger, having been almost halved by the calamity.
READ MORE FAMINE TIMELINES
Report on the Potato Epidemic November 1845
FAMINE TIMES in Clones Co Monaghan 1845
FAMINE in North West Donegal 1846
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