This paper discusses the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1849 which stemmed from a then unknown fungus disease, phytophtora infestans,
which ruined most of the Irish
potato crops in 1845 and 1846. It looks at how British policy toward the
relief of the misery and suffering caused by the potato blights was hamstrung by a rigid, narrow and basically inhuman economic doctrine which served the interests of the governing classes in Great Britain at the expense of the starving and diseased masses of Ireland afflicted as a result of the Famine. Outline Introduction and Summary Conclusions Development of the Potato Monoculture and Obstacles to Reform Peel's Response to the Famine, 1845-46 Failures of the Whigs after Mid-1846 British Society and Irish Relief Upper and Middle Class Arrogance and Indifference Overall Assessment Conclusion