While the reputation of Irish cuisine hasn’t reached the heights of French and Italian cooking, the Irish food industry is well known, exporting produce to 180 countries. Not only is Ireland one of the most self-sufficient countries in the world, it’s also the UK’s largest supplier of food and drink.
Ireland has always had an abundance of food. However, poverty, class structure and colonial oppression have been key themes in Ireland’s relationship with it. In this post, I’ll explore Irish food history in terms of cultural and sociological importance.
For a guide to Ireland’s history and geography, check out my Planning a Trip to Ireland post.
ONE-POT COOKING
One-pot cooking could best describe the modus operandi of Irish cuisine down through the centuries as houses were heated by an open fire which doubled-up as a cooker.
Vegetables and herbs were easily grown in the fertile soil and therefore in plentiful supply to be used on their own, mixed in with other ingredients (e.g. cabbage mixed with potato to yield colcannon) or simply used in soups, broths and stews.
Our ancestors made good use of foraged foods in soups with nettle soup still found on menus today. Soups and broths were enhanced by the introduction of pulses by the Anglo-Normans in the 12th Century whilst chowders were popular in coastal areas.
FISH
Indeed, geography had a massive influence on the Irish diet with seafood rarely eaten inland except on Holy Days of fasting. This may give the impression that eating fish was either a sacrifice or a treat. The Salmon of Knowledge is an Irish folklore tale concerning the capture of a salmon whose consumption would confer knowledge.
Although consumption of fish in Ireland is low compared to countries with similar marine environments, consumption has trebled in the last 50 years.
DAIRY
Dairy products have always been part of the Irish diet. Nowadays we drink milk all year round but the dairy season was limited to the summer and autumn months for our ancestors. They invented methods of preserving dairy to tie them over until the following year, namely cheese-making and the salting of butter.
Cows were more valuable to the poorer classes as many years of dairy produce could be had from the one cow. Only the aristocracy with large swathes of land could afford to raise cattle for beef.
MEAT
As the Cattle Acts of the 17th Century banned the importation of live Irish cattle into England, the focus moved towards the production of meat products such as salted beef for export. Cork city became one of the main slaughter and curing centres in the British Isles with Drisheen pudding made from the blood by-products of slaughtering.
As no milk could be got from a pig, much of the meat for the poor came from swine, both farmed and wild. Interestingly, pigs were fattened on potatoes so during the Famine pigs were unable to survive as well.
Poultry and game were other meat sources for our forefathers although game such as venison was again the preserve of the aristocracy. Domestic hens as we know them were imported but up to that point eggs and meat from native wild poultry was utilised. Goose was served on special occasions such as Christmas and also where a successful marriage match had been arranged.
BREAD & CROPS
The colonisation of Ireland could easily be plotted from the history of our breads and cereals. Unleavened breads such as oatcakes have always been part of our history. Porridge was one of the most widely eaten forms of oats whilst there is evidence that muesli has been in existence since the 9th Century, therefore not a Swiss invention as widely claimed.
The Anglo-Normans introduced leavened wheaten loaves in the 12th Century whilst the Elizabethans and the Jacobites brought the concept of spicy fruit loaves to Irish taste buds. Soda bread, considered the quintessential Irish bread, only came about in 19th Century with the introduction of baking soda but was an instant hit given its ease of preparation.
Maize was also introduced in the 19th Century but never earned itself a good name; firstly as inferior quality product caused illness and secondly as it was used as the crop substitute during the Famine.
Finally, no study of Irish food history could be complete without an examination of the potato. According to my history knowledge, it was introduced from South America by Sir Walter Raleigh towards the end of the 16th Century although there is specualtion that the crop arrived via the Spanish Armada around the same time.
The popularity of the potato was explained by its higher yield than grain crops and hence why the population increasingly relied on it. The potato had greater flexibility as a food as other dishes could be made from it (i.e. Boxty bread).
The failure of the potato crop from 1845 – 1847 due to blight is mistakenly seen as the only cause of the Famine although the real reasons behind this low point in Irish history lay in the political rather than the horticultural. There is evidence that the administrative powers were aware that the best of produce was being exported whilst the Irish people were forced to rely on the failing potato crop.
IRISH FOOD HISTORY: FINAL THOUGHTS
Food is linked with culture and identity. Many of Ireland’s recipes are of the oral tradition, in keeping with our culture of storytelling. Given its sociological importance, the history of Irish food is as much a history of the country as it is of the food itself.
For recipes on Irish cooking including the various products listed here, I can highly recommend Forgotten Skills of Cooking and Irish Traditional Cooking, both written by Darina Allen. The following cookbooks are also recommended for Irish food recipes:
- Food from an Irish Garden – Fiona Dillon
- The Irish Countrywomen’s Association Cookbook – Edited by Aoife Carrigy
- Modern Irish Food – Kevin Dundon
- Rachel’s Irish Family Food – Rachel Allen
- The Irish Farmers’ Market Cookbook – Clodagh McKenna
Arrivals Hall 