The Lumper potato was the chief source of food in Connemara prior to the famine of 1845 - 1847. This type of potato was first documented in 1808. It was a high yield main crop potato that became the mainstay of Irish food production through to the 1840s. Its yields were so high that it was estimated that one half acre of Lumpers could sustain a family for an entire year. The Lumper was also highly susceptible to potato blight (Phytophthora infestans). The very high dependency on Lumpers meant when blight hit in the mid 1840s that the chief food source disappeared and famine happened. The Lumper was well adapted to the poor, wet soils of Connemara. It was described as a wet, nasty, knobbly old potato, as more waxy than floury and with a lower starch content than other main crop potatoes. Agricultural experts considered it to be a coarse potato and recommended it as a potato that was best used for animal feed. After the famine the Lumper virtually disappeared from cultivation in Ireland but has recently been grown as a heritage crop and to ensure it remains part of the biodiversity of Ireland.
