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Transcript: The Psychological Effects of Ireland's Potato Famine
- Article from:
- NPR Morning Edition
- Article date:
- September 20, 1995
CopyrightProvided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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A professor of Irish studies discusses the Irish potato famine which
occurred 150 years ago this month. Two million people died and another
two million emigrated, causing spiritual and psychological damage.
BOB EDWARDS, Host: One hundred fifty years ago this month a mysterious
airborne fungus descended on Ireland's potato crop. Almost overnight
potato stalks turned black and soggy and a third of the crop rotted
in the ground. Within a year the blight had destroyed the country'
s entire potato harvest. At the time potatoes were the subsistence
crop for about half of Ireland's rural population. Most people lived
on tiny plots and paid rent in crops to ...