Great Famine, also called Irish Potato Famine, Great Irish Famine, or Famine of 1845–49, famine that occurred in Ireland in 1845–49 when the potato crop failed in successive years. The crop failures were caused by late blight, a disease that destroys both the leaves and the edible roots, or tubers, of the potato plant.

The potato first made its appearance in Europe about 1570, having been brought from South America by the Spaniards. Traditional wisdom has it that Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the crop to Ireland about 1585. As a staple diet for the native population, it proved to be ideal.

Philadelphia

However, the potato was not a native of Ireland. It had been found by Spanish conquistadors in south America in the 1500s was shipped to Europe, and reached Ireland around 1590. For the next 80 years it was grown in small numbers, mainly in Munster, as a garden crop or stand-by.

Until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century, grains such as oats, wheat and barley, cooked either as porridge or bread, formed the staple of the Irish diet.

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sweet potatoes, which are grown widely, are tasty and have several vitamins, beta-carotene and abundant antioxidants. The Irish potato, also nutritious, was the chief source of food in Ireland until the mid-1800s when a potato disease (blight) devastated the crops.

The total number of pub licences issued in the city and county of Dublin in 2017 was 773, down 1.7 per cent in 12 years, from 786. Coupled with the most recent census figures, the numbers show that there is currently one pub per 1,743 people.

town of Feakle

NEW YORK CITY The Empire City has more Irish bars and restaurants than any other city in the world, the legacy of how immigration and love of tradition created a strong and vibrant Irish-American community.

Mayo

SPAIN

7,000 pubs

7,000 Irish

Though Irish immigrants have been setting up watering holes in foreign countries for more than a century, the boom in Irish pubs around the world of the past three decades is largely thanks to a clever partnership between Guinness and the Irish Pub Company, a business that specializes in constructing Irish pubs around …

The Brazen Head

Vintners representatives say they are expecting many of Ireland’s 7,100 pubs to remain shut once restrictions are eased and Covid financial supports are halted. On March 15th, 2020, the Government requested the closure of pubs in the State – which employ about 50,000 people – for two weeks as a result of Covid-19.

On 5 July, in the Republic of Ireland, bars and restaurants will be able to serve customers indoors again. International travel will resume on 19 July through the EU Digital Covid Certificate.

Following discussions today with the Licenced Vintners Association (LVA) and the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), the government is now calling on all public houses and bars (including hotel bars) to close from this evening (Sunday 15 March) until at least 29 March.