People and Potatoes: Was Ireland Overpopulated in 1845? (The Great Famine III)

In 1845 the population of Ireland was heading towards 9 million with many people surviving on a diet of potatoes. This has lead many to claim that the island was overpopulated, but is it true?

In this podcast I head to a remote village of Inver in Erris, Co Mayo to see how the population has changed over the past 150 years. I also investigate exactly how many people lived in Ireland, what was the standard of living and whether the people were healthy.

The answers are surprising to say the least.