An Gorta Mór: The Blight Appears

13 Sep 1845: The first written report of blight in Ireland, as relayed by The Gardener’s Chronicle, noted blight in the fields around Dublin in mid-September 1845. But citing this date as the actual first appearance of blight is somewhat debatable. It is said that the fungus appeared in Dublin’s Botanical Gardens as well as in Sheskin, Co Monaghan as early as August of that year.

A similar affliction befell crops in American States of New Hampshire and Vermont in 1843 and it appeared in France, Belgium and England in August 1845. Some theorise that American ships brought the pestilence to Europe and with its presence known in Britain it seemed only a matter of time that it was blown or carried across the Irish Sea.

Identifying the actual date of the blight's arrival in Ireland is somewhat irrelevant. What is important is that by mid-September this "murrain" was clearly here and establishing itself within Ireland.

Reports began to roll-in from other counties soon enough with a near total failure in Co. Fermanagh by October. Alarmingly, potatoes that were harvested in a healthy state were found to rot in their storage pits overnight.

Shrivelled spotted leaves, quickly yielded rotten blackened tubers and the telltale stench hung in the air around affected fields. Word would spread rapidly though the cause of the disease was unclear. What was becoming clear was that anyone attempting to eat the affected potatoes would soon feel quite ill - that is if they could force themselves to eat them.

Could the crop be salvaged? The disease erradicated? Was there any way these blackened potatoes, the primary food source for much of the island, could be prepared to make them edible?