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Disease

VIDEO: How the Black Death (and potato blight) came to Ireland

Ireland was badly hit by fatal diseases over the centuries. These videos look at the history – and how Ireland coped – with some of these diseases.

IRELAND HAS HAD its fair share of brushes with fatal diseases.

More than one million people have died in Ireland over the centuries from diseases such as the Black Death plague and tuberculosis, as well as the effects of the potato blight which caused the famine of 1845 – 1849.

These videos, made as part of the ESOF/Dublin City of Science event, show the history of some of the major diseases to affect Ireland, and how Irish scientists worked to eradicate their effects:

The Black Death:

Tuberculosis:

Potato Blight:

(All videos: eandobdi/YouTube)

Read: EPA clears way for field trials of blight-resistant GM potato >

Read: Uganda: “Lots of people don’t really understand what Ebola is” >

Explainer: When and why are blight warnings issued? >

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Christine Bohan

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