Desc: The Great Irish Famine: Directed by Pete Lawrence. With Cormac Ó'Gráda, Christine Kinealy, Seamus Caulfield, Patrick Cleary. The documentary examines the Irish famine of 1845, caused by a blight that devastated the potato crop, the main source of food for the poor in rural Ireland. The special explores the causes of the disaster, the lack of relief for the British, the ineffective way the government handled the crisis, and finding survivors who made their way to America.