"mono culture" That's rubbish there was corn, barley and other crops grown in Ireland as well as mutton, pork and beef all on land "owned" by the invaders. At the time the huge hordes of food were used to feed protestants and for export to england! The catholics were systematically starved by the english protestants who feared a revolution. They would rather let excess corn rot that give it to Catholics. The whole "famine" thing was a myth created to cover up the genocide. We Irish prefer to call it "the great hunger"