Lmao! You should look the basics of it up. Basically they rotted in the ground when a disease called the 'Blight' I think (I'm kinda tired so minds going blank) Got into them. Really that was what lead to deaths and things like that. :P
Yeah. It's so sad and horrid how many died because of that, and they refused to help them...horrid time for Ireland, but when you look at what we have now... your grateful you weren't there.