Potato blight breaks out in Ireland, beginning the Great Famine

Background. Prior to the Irish outbreak, blight had largely destroyed potato crops in the Eastern United States during 1843 and 1844. Irish newspapers carried reports of this American disease in 1844. The disease was also first identified in Europe around Kortrijk, Belgium, in June 1845, where the Flemish potato harvest failed that summer, with yields declining 75–80% and an estimated forty thousand deaths in the locale.

Outbreak and Recognition. The blight appeared in Ireland in autumn 1845. While a specific first-sighting date in Ireland is not provided in the passages, the crisis was formally recognized in November 1845. The Dublin Mansion House Committee for the Relief of Distress claimed on 19 November 1845 that more than one-third of the entire potato crop had already been destroyed.

Initial Political Response. In early November 1845, a deputation from the citizens of Dublin, including the Duke of Leinster, Lord Cloncurry, Daniel O'Connell and the Lord Mayor, went to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Heytesbury, to discuss the issue. This meeting reflected the immediate political attention given to the situation in Dublin during the autumn of 1845.