Agriculture of Ireland

Early Irish Agriculture

The Irish are historical farmers and have relied on their crops and livestock for around 6,000 years. In medieval times, a large class of working farmers supported the nobility through food-rent, or a portion of their annual crops and livestock. According to the Brehon Laws, a "strong" farmer sowed 16 sacks of grain per year; the average farm dedicated 16 acres to barley, oats, wheat, or rye. The historic Irish did not grow hay for their livestock, preferring instead to graze them over the mild winters.[2][3]

Crops and Orchards of the Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, houses and monasteries also kept vegetable gardens and orchards to supplement their diets. They grew cabbages, onions, carrots, parsnips, peas, beans, strawberries, leeks, apples, plums, and hazelnuts.[4][5] Farmers amended their soil with limestone, manure, kelp, sand, and algae.[6] Teams of six or more oxen were needed to plow a field. Most farmers could not afford a full-team and entered collective plough-share contracts. They harvested mature grains with sickles and allowed cattle to graze over what was left.[7]

The Potato in Ireland

The potato reached Ireland by the 16th century and forever changed the nation's diet. The root flourished in the island's damp climate and quickly became the staple crop of a growing population. As arable land grew scarce, a single acre of potatoes and a milk cow could support a family of eight.[8] By 1800, 20 percent of Ireland's agricultural output consisted of potatoes. Farms alternated grain and potato crops. The potatoes refreshed the soil, leading to better grain harvests and feeding families in the process.[6][9]

When potato crops failed in 1845, poor Irish farmers had few resources to fall back on. An estimated million people died during the famine, and a million more emigrated in less than a decade.[10] By 1911, the population of Ireland had dropped to 4.4 million.[11] Agriculture remains a vital industry on the island. About 71 percent of its land is dedicated to fields and pastures, and 12.5 percent of the population works in agriculture.[12]

Bibliography

1. G. Frank Mitchell "Introduction" in Treasures of Early Irish Art: 1500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. Metropolitan Museum of Art, ed. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977), 10-15.

2. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, 400-1200 (London: Longman, 1995).

3. Debby Banham and Rosamond Faith, Anglo-Saxon Farms and Farming (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 124.

4. Patrick W. Joyce, A Social History of Ancient Ireland, Volume 2 (Dublin: Gresham, 1903), 148-158.

5. T.W. Moody et al., A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and Early Ireland (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 273-275.

6. Henry David Inglis, Ireland in 1834: A Journey Throughout Ireland, During the Spring, Summer, and Autumn of 1834 (London: Whittaker, 1834), 64.

7. T. M. Charles-Edwards, Early Christian Ireland (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 134.

8. Llewellyn Woodward, The Age of Reform, 1815-1870 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000).

9. Daniel Webster. Hollis, The History of Ireland (Westport Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001), 94.

10. James S. Donnelly, The Great Irish Potato Famine (Stroud: The History Press, 2013).

11. "Census of Ireland 1901/1911," National Archives: Census of Ireland 1901/1911, The National Archives of Ireland, accessed March 29, 2017.

12. "Agricultural Census in Ireland," Eurostat, Statistics Explained, accessed March 29, 2017.

TOTA

Traditions of the Ancestors

This group is for articles produced or approved by TOTA staff, covering a wide variety of cultures and topics.

View Group