>>> The periodic famines in Ireland were not caused by the failure of the potato crop, but by an economic system that made it the main part of the Irish diet. <<< During the time of the several "famines", Ireland was producing mass amounts of grain, fruit, vegetables and?meat ... all of which was exported to England or consumed by the wealthy landowners. The Irish who worked the land (they didn't own it) were not permitted to consume what they produced, but were allowed to grow potatoes for themselves (after the other crops were tended). Potatoes were considered "pig" food and so only fit to feed the Irish, who were viewed as animals. I'm not being overly dramatic when I say this ... English politicians were on record voicing this opinion. When the potato blight (phytophthora infestans) struck the potato crop in Ireland, of course the common Irish farmer was hardest hit, since that was his staple. Blight also struck Scotland with similar, although lesser, impact. Clearly the English (mis)governance of Ireland contributed greatly to the misery of the Irish people during these years. Some of my more "incendiary" friends actually refer t! o it not as the "Irish Famine", but as the "Irish Holocaust".