Doug Anderson

This image depicts both a rotted Lumper as well as the ubiquitous unmarked famine graveyard. Bodies were frequently taken to these grave sites in reusable coffins with hinged bottoms, where they were piled up to seven layers deep. 

 

About 90% of the potatoes grown in Ireland were the Lumper. It was very prolific in poor soil, but more susceptible to disease. Seed potatoes from one year’s crop provided the next, providing little genetic diversity and weakening their resilience. This monoculture of potatoes created an easy pathway for the blight to quickly cross Ireland. The situation was amplified by unusually wet weather of the famine years.

 

Potatoes originated in the Andes mountains of Peru and Bolivia and cultivated by ancient peoples such as the Incas. The mold, Phytophthora Infestans, which causes blight also comes from the same location, although the particular strain that caused the Irish Potato Famine in 1845 is believed to have originated in Mexico. Within a hundred years potatoes had supplanted other crops for the Irish poor because it was easy to grow, prepare, digest, and store. Fortunately, it was also nutritious, being high in carbohydrates and vitamin C (which prevents scurvy). 

 

As the British confiscated more farms, forced division of family lands into smaller plots, and pushed the destitute to the rocky soil of the west side of the island, the poor were forced to limit their diet, almost exclusively, to the cheap and dependable Lumper potato to survive. A half an acre planted in potatoes could feed a family of four for a year. The average tenant farmer rented less than an acre of land and in many cases less than a quarter acre. Additional land was typically planted in cash crops and used to pay the rent. By the time of the Great Famine men would consume about 12-14 pounds and women 8-10 pounds of potatoes a day. Preparation was simple as potatoes were often just boiled and placed in a basket on the floor with some buttermilk and salt.