Before the arrival of the potato in the late 16th century, native Irish people relied on a diet rich in dairy, oats, barley, and wild greens. For thousands of years, staples included milk, butter, curds, thick porridge, oatcakes, and foraged foods like berries and seaweed. Meat was often reserved for the wealthy, primarily pork and mutton.
Game meat was probably more common than farmed meat - rabbit or deer rather than beef or lamb - but both will have been available. Fruit and vegetables as available seasonally. Stew/casseroles. Oats - oat bread, oat cake, oat as thickener in stew, porridge.
Things won't be near that bad on milk and potatoes. Before the Great Famine, the Irish peasant meal consisted mainly of potatoes, milk, oats, beans, barley, and bread. Dairy products largely disappeared from the Irish diet, since poverty forced many farmers to sell milk to pay rent.
The most important native livestock were pigs and boars, which were domesticated by the Celts. The Celts grew many varieties of grain including wheat, barley, oats, rye and millet. They also grew legumes such as peas and beans (Enayat, 2014.)
Viking, Norman, Gaelic, and later English influences have combined to create a rich genetic and cultural heritage. This genetic diversity reflects Ireland's history of invasions, settlements, and integrations, contributing to the distinct Irish identity seen today.
Why did Irish people eat half raw potatoes? | RTÉ Brainstorm
Why did the Irish starve?
Between 1845 and 1855, at least 2.1 million people left Ireland, one of the greatest exoduses from a single island in history. The proximate cause of the famine was the infection of potato crops by blight throughout Europe.
In the United States, the term "Black Irish" was initially used in the 19th century to derogatorily describe Irish refugees of the Great Famine. It later shifted into a term used to describe people of Irish descent who have black or dark-colored hair, blue or dark eyes, or otherwise dark coloring.
British mistreatment of the Irish stemmed from a mix of religious prejudice (Catholic vs. Protestant), cultural disdain (viewing Irish as "primitive"), economic exploitation (land ownership by absentee landlords), and strategic colonial control (fearing Irish rebellion or foreign invasion). This culminated in policies, especially during the Great Famine, justified by racist ideologies and laissez-faire economics, leading to immense suffering and resentment.
Traditional Irish cuisine was built on whole and nutrient-dense foods. Staples like oats, root vegetables, fresh seafood, and grass-fed meats provided a natural and unprocessed source of energy. Fermented foods like buttermilk and homemade bread also supported gut health long before probiotics became a wellness trend.
What is the most common eye colour in Ireland? Blue is the most common eye colour in Ireland as half of the population. Almost 86% of the people in Ireland and Scotland have blue or green coloured eyes.
Surprisingly, the Oakhurst study found that the oldest genomes were genetically similar to the San and Khoekhoe groups living in the same region today, UCT said in a statement.
Prof John Portmann was born in Phoenix in Arizona in the summer of 1963. But about 60 years later he found out, via a DNA test, that his ancestry is 100% Irish. And Prof Portmann has since been awarded Irish citizenship.
It is possible to stay healthy on a diet of potatoes alone. The Irish often drank a little buttermilk with their meal and sometimes used salt, cabbage, and fish as seasoning. Irish peasants were actually healthier than peasants in England or Europe where bread, far less nutritious, was the staple food.
New studies show Irish diet is unsustainable – nutritionally, financially and ethically. The Irish diet is rich in unsustainable foods and is causing nutritional and financial problems – as well as seriously limiting our potential to limit the effects of global warming and nitrogen pollution.
Irish stew is the definition of comfort food. Traditionally made with lamb or mutton, potatoes, onions, and carrots, it's slow-cooked until everything melts together. No fuss, no fancy seasoning, just honest flavours that do the job.
The biggest problem in Ireland is widely considered to be the severe housing crisis, marked by a lack of affordable homes, soaring rents, and record levels of homelessness, exacerbated by rapid population growth and insufficient infrastructure. This is closely followed by related issues like the high cost of living, infrastructure shortfalls (transport, healthcare, water), and challenges from increased migration, all straining services and making it harder for many, especially young people, to find stable housing.
Birmingham. Birmingham has a large Irish community, dating back to the Industrial Revolution, it is estimated that Birmingham has the largest Irish population per capita in Britain. Digbeth is the traditional Irish area in Birmingham.
The conclusion is that earliest Irish settlers would have had darker skin than we have today. The findings suggest that the DNA is linked to individuals from Spain and Luxembourg, who populated western European after the last Ice Age but before the farming era.
The region's relative isolation over centuries meant that older genetic traits, like darker hair and eyes, remained more dominant compared to the east, where Viking, Anglo-Norman, and English influences introduced more genetic diversity, including lighter features.
Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. It is widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest man-made disasters in human history, with an estimated death toll due to starvation that ranges in the tens of millions (15 to 55 million).
With the partition of Ireland, the relationship between Ireland and Britain changed dramatically. While the Republic of Ireland distanced itself from Britain, the Protestant majority of Northern Ireland clung fiercely to its British identity, and Catholics there suffered discrimination in employment and housing.
Emigration became the norm in Ireland after the famine. It is estimated that the Irish Diaspora (descendants of those who emigrated from the island) worldwide is approximately 80 million people, about half of whom are in the US. Ireland has never fully recovered from the famine.
