In the late summer of 1845, heavy rain fell across Ireland, bringing with it blight that killed numerous crops, including potatoes. Since Ireland was dependent on the potato crop, the consequences of this disaster were catastrophic. Great Britain, which had control over Ireland at the time, did little to help the poor and starving Irish. Due to the English's contempt for the Irish during the Potato Famine of 1845, the already fragile relationship between Ireland and England worsened. When this particular plague, containing the fungus phytophthora infestans, hit potatoes, it killed the plant's tuber and the potatoes. all Ireland began to rot. The plague also affected the rest of Europe and America, however, these countries were not as dependent on the potato crop as Ireland was, so it was a mere nuisance to the people (Beaumont, 383). This huge decline in potato yields created a catastrophic problem. . The potato was the ideal food for Ireland's extremely poor rural population. No other crop could be produced as quickly as the potato and in such large quantities. The potato also contained many nutrients. As a result, crop failure left millions of Irish citizens at risk of starvation. As the crisis worsened, the prices of alternative foods also skyrocketed, making it almost impossible for citizens to supplement their diet with nutrients and stay healthy (Connolly). The year before the disaster, 15 million tons of potatoes were produced. By 1845, blight reduced the total to 10 million, and by 1846 yields fell even further, so that just two million acres produced fewer than three million tons of edible potatoes. In 1847 alone more than a quarter of a million acres were sown, so only about two million... half the paper... in six towns in Northern Ireland. An era of violence and terror had finally ended in Ireland (Connolly). One hundred and fifty years after the famine, the effects of the famine can still be seen around the world, in the number of Irish immigrants scattered everywhere, in the treeless landscape of Ireland, the destroyed domestic structures found along the Irish countryside, and the emergence of two countries: l Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It is a fact that the British government did not do enough to help the Irish during the famine, which left hatred burning among the surviving Irish. If the British government had done more to help, perhaps there wouldn't have been as many civil conflicts as they did. The Potato Famine worsened relations between Great Britain and Ireland, eventually leading to the division of Ireland into two countries.