The way I heard it, great potato famine wasn’t as big a deal as the extreme exploitation, colonization, and failure of industrialization as well as landlords and religious apartheid that began earlier.
Exploitation led to potato being relied upon near exclusively due to how cheap it was per calorie. So when the famine hit, it affected many places but it affected Ireland uniquely severely.
The way I heard it, great potato famine wasn’t as big a deal as the extreme exploitation, colonization, and failure of industrialization as well as landlords and religious apartheid that began earlier.
Which very much surprised me.
Exploitation led to potato being relied upon near exclusively due to how cheap it was per calorie. So when the famine hit, it affected many places but it affected Ireland uniquely severely.
It exacerbated existing problems and piled more on top.