Today Ireland is known as a land full of culture and pride. It is a beautiful land rich in music, art, religion and tradition. Like any nation, however, Ireland has had its fair share of difficulties. The most devastating of which was known as the Great Famine. The nation was profoundly devastated by this event both economically and socially. The Great Famine claimed the lives of over a million people due to starvation and disease and displaced another million, all within six years. It is unclear whether or not the famine could have been avoided, but the severity of the famine could certainly have been reduced. There were certain policies and procedures implemented by the English that set the Irish economy up for inevitable failure. Ireland had over eight million people during the mid-19th century. They were heavily dependent on agriculture and many Irish were poor and lived in poor conditions. The Irish were considered among the poorest people in the West. They had a low literacy rate, a low life expectancy rate, and although Ireland was an agricultural nation, they generally had low incomes. Because they could afford nothing else, the Irish were very dependent on potatoes. The potato was an economical source of proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins suitable for survival. The substantial dependence on potatoes was one of the main reasons why the famine was so destructive. It all began in the summer of 1845, when the plague was first discovered. It sickened the entire Irish potato crop and the vast majority of Irish people were solely dependent on potatoes. Hayden describes it as “simply the most violent episode in a story characterized by violence of every kind imaginable, the inevitable with...... middle of paper ......g/the_freeman/detail/lessons-of -history -the-great-irish-famine.Gavin, Philip. 2000. “The History Place – Irish Potato Famine.” The place of history. June 12th. Accessed April 12, 2014. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/index.html.Haines, Robin. 2004. Charles Trevelyan and the Great Irish Famine. Portland: Four Courts Press.Hayden, Tom. 1997. Irish Hunger: Personal Reflections on the Legacy of the Famine. Boulder: Roberts Rinehart.Lengel, Edward G. 2002. The Irish through British Eyes: Perceptions of Ireland in the Famine Era. Westport: Praeger Publishers. Mitz, Steven. 2014. “The Irish Potato Famine.” Digital history. April 4. Accessed April 14, 2014. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/irish_potato_famine.cfm.R. Dudley Edwards and T. Desmond Williams. 1994. The Great Famine: Studies in Irish History 1845-52. Dublin: The Lilliput Press.