26 (40) The Famine On our way back to Dublin we passed Listowel Famine Churchyard. Once more memories of the country's gloomy past became present. At the middle of the 19th century the Irish population was hit by famine. The grim reason was a plague destruction of the staple food potatoes three years in a row. The English lords sold cattle and wheat to other countries for good profit instead of keeping the food in Ireland. The starvation caused the death of one million Irishmen. A vast emigration followed. The Irish population was reduced to the half. The Great Famine was the culmination of amore than 200 years long impoverishment of the country's resources caused by English repression. 25 27 First published: Friday 20th December, 2002 Send a to the author! You may also use this form