Irish food has become synonymous with potatoes, but it’s much more of a storied tale than meets the eye.

With St. Patrick’s day coming up on Tuesday, look to celebrate the Irish culture through their food – which goes beyond boiled potatoes and corned beef.

And to appreciate the meal even more, get to know the history of the country’s relationship with its famed spud.

From 1845 to 1852, the Irish Potato Famine, otherwise known as the Great Famine, marked a deadly period in Ireland where mass starvation and disease ensued influenced by a blight of the crop.

In 1843, a potato blight was found in New York and Philadelphia, but it was first reported in Ireland in September 1845. The blight was caused by Phytophthora infestans, a type of mold.

In the first year of the blight in Ireland, which was then ruled as a British colony, historians estimate that about half of the country’s potato crops were decimated. Within the following seven years, that grew to 75%.

Potatoes were a key staple in the diet of the Irish, notably tenant farmers. Historians estimate that this led to the death of at least one million people, with another one to two million fleeing the country.

As a British Colony, Ireland was subject to the rule of Great Britain. In an attempt to combat the potato blight, Irish leaders lobbied for the British Parliament to repeal its “Corn Laws” and grain tariffs that made other staple foods like corn and bread too expensive for many Irish people to purchase. While these laws were repealed initially, it was not enough to combat the blight’s effects.

In tandem with the inability of the Irish to get food amid the blight, historians have also found that large quantities of food being produced by Irish farmers and livestock were primarily exported to Britain. Some historians suggest that exports even increased during the famine, making this food exponentially unavailable to the starving Irish.

While the blight ended in 1852, its effects were resounding afterward. One of the notable results historians note was the driver for independence from Great Britain, which was achieved 70 years later in 1922. Multiple memorials have also been erected to honor the lives lost in the Great Famine, even popping up in cities outside of Ireland where many Irish fled to escape the famine.

Source: LI Press