An Gorta Mór: A Long Prelude Part III
01/07/2024
The potato originated in South America and was first introduced to Europe by traders in the late 1500s. Sir Walter Raleigh is credited with bringing it to Ireland around the year 1585.
Although a more varied diet may be preferable to the palate, one could thrive nearly exclusively on the potato. By the 1800s the average grown man would eat 12-14 lbs of potatoes over the course of a day while women might eat 10-12. Cooked in a variety of ways a stir-about of boiled potatoes and buttermilk with whatever else might be available was a staple.
In general the potato is an excellent source of nutrition, requiring minimal work or cost to cultivate, yet high in calories, vitamins, minerals and protein.
Although a more varied diet may be preferable to the palate, one could thrive nearly exclusively on the potato. By the 1800s the average grown man would eat 12-14 lbs of potatoes over the course of a day while women might eat 10-12. Cooked in a variety of ways a stir-about of boiled potatoes and buttermilk with whatever else might be available was a staple.
While there are hundreds of specific varieties of the potato, by the 1840's potato plantings consisted almost entirely of the Lumper potato. There were good reasons for this, tied to the tenant farming system prevalent on the island in this era. And without the advantage of hindsight, the transition to this variety was a sensible choice.
The Lumper thrived in poor, rocky soil, spread quickly and had a yield far greater than other varietals. A small plot could produce enough potatoes to feed a family nearly the entire year.
Tenant farmers would hold back a portion of the crop for use as seed potatoes for the following harvest. This meant that from harvest to harvest and year over year, in counties throughout the island, the Lumpers planted were clones of each-other. With no genetic variation, entire crop shared both advantages and vulnerabilities, most notably to the same disease - a destructive fungus that would later be identified as Phytophthora infestans.