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True but let's not put all the blame on the potato. During the Famine years Ireland was a net exporter of food...
by irish_lad 10y ago
True but let's not put all the blame on the potato. During the Famine years Ireland was a net exporter of food...
- johnchristopher 10y agoBut was it food that could have fed the population or luxury food (spices, cacao or something like coffee beans) ?
- irish_lad 10y agoNo it was your typical farm food (cattle, grain etc.). Most of these shipments were under armed guard by British soldiers. There was no shortage of food. Whilst the famine itself was devastating, the results were politically motivated and driven.
- masklinn 10y agoGrains and other edible crops (peas, onions), livestock, processed meat and produce (between January 1847 and September 1847, Ireland exported more than 7 million pounds of butter).
- lmm 10y agoIt was food that could have fed the population. In particular corn/wheat/other grains.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y agoAre you familiar with (a) the climate of Ireland in the 19th century and (b) the growing conditions demanded by (most) spices, cacao, and coffee beans?
- johnchristopher 10y agoYes, I am.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 10y agoThen why would you have wondered if Ireland could have grown those things.
- johnchristopher 10y agoI did not. These were just typical examples to illustrate what I had in mind when asking about any homegrown Irish luxury food (I don't know if Ireland has any). Hence the « or something like coffee beans ».
- masklinn 10y agoAnd the irish reliance on potato was directly caused by the english Penal Laws under which until the late 18th century catholics were forbidden many thing[0], including getting an education, purchasing land, long land leases (more than 31 years), primogeniture (catholic land had to be equally divided between all sons unless the eldest converted to protestantism, which would quickly lead to fragmentation and plots too small to feed their owner… which could then only be bought by protestant absentee landlords since other catholics were barred from buying them, you can see its success in irish catholic holdings falling from 25% of Ireland in 1688 to 5% in 1776). The Penal Laws were indeed > a machine of wise and elaborate contrivance, as well fitted for the oppression, impoverishment and degradation of a people, and the debasement in them of human nature itself, as ever proceeded from the perverted ingenuity of man. [0] you can hear the evil cackling in the background as you go down the list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_Laws_(Ireland)#Ascendancy_rule_1691.E2.80.931778 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_Laws_(Ireland)#Ascendanc...