Irish Lumper
A historic potato variety linked to the Irish Great Famine.
The Irish Lumper is a white potato variety known for its historical significance. Its widespread use across Ireland before the 1840s is linked to the Great Famine, which caused roughly one million deaths. This potato thrived in light, sandy soils, making it well-suited to Irish conditions, especially in the west, until that decade. According to Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, the Lumper was a very old variety, likely familiar when first recorded in 1808, and was later described as a coarse variety in 1835. By 1837, it was recommended as pig feed due to its high yield. In the 1840s, *Phytophthora infestans* blight destroyed successive harvests, triggering famine and emigration. Combined with British policies, these events reduced Ireland’s population by about two million, with one million deaths. The Lumper nearly vanished but was revived in 2008 by Michael McKillop of County Antrim, who now sells it as an heirloom crop. Culinary accounts describe it as a wet, nasty, knobbly potato with a waxy, rather than floury, texture when boiled, indicating lower starch content. Irish schools have begun growing the Lumper in garden beds as a historical education project.
Quick Facts
- Species
- Solanum tuberosum
- Genus
- Solanum
- Cultivar
- 'Irish Lumper'
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Irish Lumper was described by Andrews in 1835 as a 'coarse variety' and was recommended by Howden in 1837 as pig feed due to its enormous yield. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Ireland noted that the Lumper was a 'very old variety, and ... probably well known when first recorded by Dutton (1808) in his Agricultural Survey of County Clare.' Its ability to thrive in light, sandy soils made it widely cultivated across Ireland before the 1840s.
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, exacerbated by British rule, lowered Ireland's total population by approximately two million, of which approximately one 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 variety.
Culinarily, the Irish Lumper has been characterized as a 'wet, nasty, knobbly old potato.' Its texture upon boiling is described as more 'waxy' than 'floury,' indicating a starch content on the lower side of that typical for white potatoes. Schools in Ireland are starting to cultivate the Irish Lumper as a project of historical education, in garden beds.
Reader's Guide
The Irish Lumper's significance lies in its direct link to the Irish Great Famine, a catastrophic period in which an estimated one million people died and another million emigrated, lowering Ireland's total population by approximately two million. As the variety of potato whose widespread cultivation throughout Ireland prior to the 1840s is implicated in the famine, the Lumper represents both the agricultural vulnerability that contributed to the disaster and the resilience of a crop that nearly disappeared. Its ability to flourish in poor, wet conditions made it a staple for many, but when Phytophthora infestans struck in the 1840s, the dependence on this single variety proved devastating. The Lumper's revival starting in 2008 by Michael McKillop of County Antrim, and its use in Irish schools for historical education, underscores its role as a living artifact. The variety's coarse, waxy nature, once recommended as stock feed, now serves as a tangible reminder of the interplay between agriculture, environment, and history. Its legacy is not one of culinary excellence but of historical gravity, prompting reflection on food security and the consequences of monoculture.
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