Causes
The Irish Potato Famine came onto the potatoes of Ireland very fast. At the time, they thought that it was caused by either smoke from railroads, or mortiferous vapors coming from underground volcanoes. We now know that the cause was a fungus that traveled from Mexico. This could happen because the English were buying many acres of land from Irish farmers. These absentee landlords took less care of the farmlands, and did not pay attention to the abnormal growth of the potatoes.
(The picture on the right is a drawing of the first finding of the infected potatoes)
(The picture on the right is a drawing of the first finding of the infected potatoes)
This diagram shows the cycle of how the potatoes got infected, and where the infection came from.