potatoes

potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) originated in the South American Andes. Wild potatoes were brought into cultivation some 2,000 years before the Spanish conquest. They reached Europe in the late 16th century and were cultivated in English gardens a few years later. Their arrival in Ireland is obscure. A Spanish origin is hinted at by the early Irish name for the potato: an spáinneach. There is no certain evidence about the date or means of arrival, although tradition gives Sir Walter Raleigh the credit. The earliest documentary reference to potato cultivation in Ireland is in a lease dated 1606 granting Scottish immigrants land in Co. Down.

Initially potatoes were grown as a garden crop. In the 1640s and 1650s they were common in Munster and Leinster gardens. The most plausible explanation for transition from gardens to fields is that potatoes were an excellent clearing crop on newly tilled land and valuable as a rotational crop to restore the fertility of land used for cereals. As the demand for Irish cereals increased, potatoes entered cultivation regimes. The process accelerated from the mid‐18th century under the stimulus of rising cereal prices. Potatoes in Ireland served similar functions to those of turnips in England, but they were better suited to Ireland's cool climate and wet soils. To cultivate, ridges, called ‘lazy beds’, were dug in which the sprouting tubers were placed. Several varieties were grown. ‘Black’, ‘cup’, and ‘apple’ varieties were highly prized, but the poor cultivated the high‐yielding though watery ‘lumper’. By the early 19th century over 2 million acres were under potatoes, yielding from 6 to 8 tons per acre.

The chronology of potato diffusion within Irish diet has generated debate. Until cultivated as field crops on a large scale, potatoes were never more than a dietary supplement. However by the early 19th century they were the staple food, assuring the poor of a highly nutritious diet. The most common method of cooking was boiling. Consumption was between 10 and 15 pounds daily, sometimes eaten at two meals, at other times three, depending on the season. Potatoes, accompanied by milk or herrings, were rich in the nutrients required for human existence.

Between 1845 and 1849 the potato crop was ruined three times by Phytophthora infestans, commonly called potato blight. Since over 3 million people were totally dependent upon potatoes for food, famine (see Great Famine) was inevitable. The dominant role of the potato in the Irish diet was not restored.

E. Margaret Crawford