In the late summer of 1845, heavy rain fell across Ireland, bringing with it a disease that destroyed several crops, including apples of earth. Ireland being dependent on its potato crop, the consequences of this scourge were catastrophic. Britain, which controlled Ireland at this time, did very little to help the poor and starving Irish. Due to English disdain for the Irish during the potato famine of 1845, the already fragile relationship between Ireland and England deteriorated. When this particular blight, containing the fungus Phytophthora infestans, hit potatoes, it killed the plant tuber and the potatoes. everywhere in Ireland everything began to rot. The blight also hit the rest of Europe and America, but these countries were not as dependent on the potato crop as Ireland, so it was just a simple annoyance for the people (Beaumont, 383). This huge drop in potato harvests has created a catastrophic problem. . The potato was the ideal food for Ireland's extremely poor rural population. No other crop could be produced as quickly and in such large quantities as the potato. The potato also contained many nutrients. Consequently, the loss of crops left millions of Irish citizens facing starvation. As the crisis worsened, the prices of alternative foods also skyrocketed, making it almost impossible for citizens to get enough nutrition in their diets and stay healthy (Connolly). The year before the scourge, 15 million tonnes of potatoes had been produced. In 1845, disease reduced this total to 10 million and by 1846 yields fell even further, so that only two million acres produced less than three million tons of edible potatoes. In 1847 only over a quarter of a million acres were sown, so only about two million...... middle of paper...... in six Northern Ireland. An era of violence and terror had finally ended in Ireland (Connolly). One hundred and fifty years after the famine, the effects of famine can still be seen around the world, in the number of Irish immigrants spread across Ireland's treeless landscape. Ireland, the dilapidated residential structures found in the Irish countryside and the emergence of two countries: Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is a fact that the British government did not do enough to help the Irish during the famine, which left hatred burning among the surviving Irish. If the British government had done more to help, the civil strife that took place may not have happened as much. The potato famine worsened relations between Britain and Ireland, eventually leading to the split of Ireland into two countries..