One potato, Two potato, Three potato, Four..........

Five potato, Six Potato............ Im sure you get the gist by now :-)

I have been writing nonsense and spraying these pages with it for several months now and I thought it was about time I posted a sensible piece, something informative, educational, mature and responsible and as a result this post will focus on the Irish potato famine or to give it its correct title the “Great Famine”

As the post develops it will cover not only the causes of the famine (e.g. potato blight) and the subsequent effect this had on the economy and people of Ireland but I will also look at potato dependency in general and ultimately the role the "humble spud" played within the population at the time.

I should point out before I start that the Great Famine of Ireland, although resulting from the humble potato should not be confused with the “Potato War” which was something entirely different.

I think it will allow a more accurate picture of events leading up to the famine to unfold if I...........

Sorry, I have bored myself now.......

Least I’m honest......

That’s not to suggest that either subject is boring (particularly the former) I just don’t think this is the correct forum to explore them, so I won’t.

So, is it a magical city, Birmingham I mean, is Paul Daniels the patron Saint, does Debbie McGhee hold a seat on the local council, well I doubt it no, certainly not in the Birmingham pictured ^^^ up there, it’s in Alabama, (oooooooooooohh excellent, I can make a tenuous link to a classic song) not Sweet Home Alabama ( how incredibly good was the Old Grey Whistle Test), just Alabama.

Why is there a picture of Birmingham Alabama at the start of the post and what does it have to do with Debbi McGhee, well I’m going there, not the Alabama one alas (yet) but the UK one (well its only a few hours away and I can’t think of a better place to go for the week)....(ok I can but I can’t)...(go there I mean, I HAVE to be in the UK one) still it’s not all bad, the place I’m staying at is right near Cadbury World, mmmmmmmmmmmmm chocolate :-)

The Debbie McGhee bit, no idea, its lost me totally, I’m going to go and have some toast under beans now, well its better than tickling otters with a stuffed marmoset surely.