Irish Lumper

The Irish Lumper is a varietal white potato of historic interest. It has been identified as the variety of potato whose widespread cultivation throughout Ireland, prior to the 1840s, is implicated in the Irish potato famine in which an estimated 1 million died.^[1]

Agricultural Features

The Irish Lumper is noted for its ability to flourish on garden beds that are poor in nutrients, wet-footed, or both. Until the 1840s, it was closely adapted to growing conditions in Ireland, particularly western Ireland.

In the 1840s, infestations of Phytophthora infestans devastated a series of potato harvests, leading to widespread famine and emigration. The cumulative effects of both catastrophes lowered Ireland's total population by approximately 2 million, of whom approximately 1 million were fatalities.

After almost disappearing from cultivation, the Irish Lumper was regrown, starting in 2008, by Michael McKillop of County Antrim for harvest sale as an heirloom varietal.^[1]

References

v t e Potato cultivars Adirondack Blue Adirondack Red Agata Almond Amandine Amflora Anya Alturas Atlantic Austrian Crescent Bamberg Belle de Fontenay Bintje Black Champion Bloomer Butte Champion Désirée Fingerling Gala Golden Wonder Home Guard International Kidney Irish Lumper Irish White Jersey Royal Kerr's Pink King Edward Laura Marfona Mizen Pike Pink Fir Apple Ratte Red Norland Red Pontiac Rooster Russet Burbank Superior Skerry Champion Stobrawa Ulster emblem Vitelotte Vivaldi Yellow Finn Yukon Gold