In the early 1840s, Ireland had over 8 million inhabitants. Two-and-half million were living in extreme poverty and were totally dependent on potatoes. An average man ate 14 pounds of potatoes per day, leading to devastating effects when in September 1845 the potato blight arrived. Episode One of Blighted Nation deals with the arrival of the blight, the breakdown of society, starvation and disease, mass evictions, soup kitchen, workhouses, burying the dead, public works, bitter winter conditions, how the famine affected different areas and private charitable donations – the first example in history of a major international relief effort.
After 1840, emigration from Ireland became a massive, relentless, and efficiently managed national enterprise. In 1890 40% of Irish-born people were living abroad. By the 21st century, an estimated 80 million people worldwide claimed some Irish descent, which includes more than 36 million Americans who claim Irish as their primary ethnicity