the potato famine
/ðə pəˈteɪtəʊ fæmɪn/
/ðə pəˈteɪtəʊ fæmɪn/
- a disaster that happened in Ireland between 1845 and 1849 when most of the potato crop was destroyed by a plant disease. Potatoes were the main food of the poor in Ireland then, and about a million people died for lack of food. Two million people left Ireland for Britain and America because of the famine and many of them died on the way to America because of disease and hunger in ships known as ' coffin ships'.
马铃薯饥荒：1845年至1849年在爱尔兰发生的灾难，当时大部分马铃薯作物都因植物病害而遭到破坏。当时，马铃薯是爱尔兰穷人的主要食物，约有100万人因缺乏食物而死亡。由于饥荒，有200万人离开爱尔兰前往英国和美国，其中许多人因疾病和饥饿而在被称为“棺材船”的船只上丧生。