[CholeraJoe]

to escape the 1840s potato famine in Ireland.

There was no agricultural failure in Ireland. The Irish people starved because Britain confiscated all of the crops to ship to England and its colonies.

[JerseyJohn61]

At the time of the "famine", Ireland was producing enough
food to feed itself 11 xs over. Most of it was exported.
....JJ61

[MrJapan]

There was no agricultural failure in Ireland. The Irish people starved because Britain confiscated all of the crops to ship to England and its colonies.

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Not sure if you were being sarcastic or not.. but if you weren't:

Potato Blight

I ran across this several months ago after a Japanese person asked me about 'Blight'... Was really interesting and something I had never heard about (not sure how many Americans have read this in their history books... I'm one too :/ that never heard about it until this question)... So.. in fact, yes it DID happen...

If I remember the article correctly (may have actually been a different article/site), I didn't check to see if it was the exact same article, the Irish were actually 'hiding' the potatoes as their staple crop, while the Brits were confiscating pretty much anything and everything else.

Don't quote me on the last part about them hiding it though... it was somthing that popped up while I was typing >.

[atlaw]

Being of rather direct Irish descent, I've never been particularly proud of the fact that my ancestors lived on an island surrounded by some of the most productive fishing grounds in the world and yet somehow managed to starve.