Irish Lumper potato a catalyst to history

Next year marks the 180th anniversary of Ireland’s Great Famine, an event that saw the death of about one million people, emigration of another million, and had profound impacts on the settlement and development of Canada.

The causes were many, compounding the severity of the crisis between the core years of 1845 and 1852. A critical component of the story, however, was Irish society’s overdependence on a single potato variety — the Irish Lumper.

This past summer, I began researching and attempting to grow the Irish Lumper potato to learn more about this historically significant crop.

Why the Lumper?

The Lumper was first recorded in Ireland as an important potato cultivar 1808. Far from the only potato variety grown in 19th century Ireland, it was not considered culinarily desirable.

As detailed in Potato Varieties of Historical Interest in Ireland, a 2008 publication from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, agricultural chroniclers of the time described the Lumper as a “coarse species” suitable for animal feed because of its poor taste, poor texture, but impressive yields.

Naturally, what made the Lumper economical livestock feed also made it economical food for poor Irish farmers, labourers and others at the economic bottom of society. Varieties called Cup and Apple potatoes were also grown, albeit by more well-to-do people who didn’t rely on the Lumper’s higher yields to survive.

Over time, the yield benefits afforded by the Lumper led it to become the main if not sole crop for much of Ireland’s rural poor.

Estimates suggest individual Irish people circa 1845 consumed 12 to 14 pounds of Lumper potatoes every day. The Lumper’s productivity has also been credited with facilitating the rapid increase in Ireland’s population during the early 19th century. It reached approximately eight million people by 1845, or 2.6 million more than the current population.

The Irish Lumper’s nutritional characteristics also meant the average physical stature of Irish people was, at the time, notably higher than people of a similar class in countries where bread was the main staple for the working poor.

It’s in this context that the late blight Phytophthora infestans (a.k.a. “infective plant destroyer”) arrived in a country where the agricultural system and an enormous proportion of society relied almost exclusively on one vulnerable crop.

Late blight devastates

Phytophthora infestans hit Irish shores after spreading westward across Europe.

In The Graves are Walking: The Great Famine, and the Saga of the Irish People, author and historian John Kelly describes how Irish and British agronomists were aware of the threat coming from the east. In the years and months prior to late blight appearing in Ireland, different professionals offered different takes on what late blight would mean for Irish agriculture, or indeed, whether there was even cause for concern.

Personally, reading such passages felt strangely familiar given how we currently discuss emerging disease challenges in Ontario. Tar spot in corn and even the early days of COVID-19’s global spread come to mind.

Some historical sources say the Irish Lumper was particularly vulnerable to late blight. According to Potato Varieties of Historical Interest in Ireland, most pre-famine potato varieties were quite blight susceptible. Irish farmers in 1845 had no access to the crop protection tools we have today – fungicides and better genetics — nor a better understanding of plant physiology, environmental conditions, etc.

Copper sulphate, as detailed by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, would not be employed to combat blight in Ireland until the 1880s. Even if it had been available during the famine years, it’s likely the poor masses that depended on the Irish Lumper would not have been able to afford the chemical control. Even if they could, I suspect supplies would have been inadequate.

What ifs aside, late blight devastated a significant portion of Ireland’s 1845 potato crop. The following year it was worse, with prolonged wet and cold weather exacerbating an already dire situation.

It didn’t take long for mass starvation and disease to hit. A general societal collapse followed. In a single season in 1847 alone – a year still known as Black ‘47 – some 100,000 famine refugees arrived in Canada. Two of them happened to be distant members of my own family. Multitudes more landed in Britain, America, Australia and elsewhere.

A reintroduction

The historical significance of the Irish Lumper is profound, and I am by no means unique in my interest in this particular spud. It’s made occasional, albeit temporary, comebacks in the press, in Ireland as a throwback item in the country’s food scene for example, as well as with the University of Guelph’s own potato researcher, Vanessa Currie.

Currie developed an interest in the Lumper over a decade ago, researching and growing it as part of a small-scale historical experiment. Speaking for a 2013 article for Potatoes in Canada , written by Carolyn King, Currie described the Lumper as “oval to oblong in shape, with deep eyes and a rough, knobby appearance. The skin was smooth and pale. The flesh was cream coloured, not white, but not yellow.” She adds they were possibly “the most ugly potatoes” she had ever grown.

This tracks with my own experience. The Lumper is, well, pretty lumpy. It’s a pain in the rear to peel, and requires a lot of digging if you want the eyes removed. Historically, though, the skin would have remained as a vital source of nutrition, so I’ve generally opted to consume my own supply in-the-round.

Currie also found the taste and flavour of the Lumper agreeable. We informally compared notes after my own harvest in 2024, agreeing the Lumper was, more or less, just another potato. It was a bit tougher in skin and texture than some, but nothing particularly notable.

My working hypothesis is its historical reputation may be partially rooted in the way it was prepared at the time – and prejudice from those who had the opportunity to consume different varieties. Anecdotally, I can say the Lumper’s texture works very well in a beef shank stew, perhaps with a bit of paprika and garlic.

The Lumper certainly shaped history, both my own family’s experience and the wider Canadian story. Many thanks to the Canadian Potato Genetic Resources at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Fredericton Research Centre, and to Vanessa Currie, for providing the opportunity and inspiration to grow and further share the story of the Irish Lumper potato.