January 22 1847 AD: Potato Black Market Flourishes

With the potato crop ruined and the population of Ireland suffering terribly for its reluctance to cook and eat pasta, there is a growing black market in potatoes. John Fitzgerald of Youghal becomes the notorious Potato Baron when on this day he successfully imports and sells three thousand individual potatoes to the same number of families. Only when they arrive to meet the potato boat from France do they realise that he has sold them all the same potato. The incident is a black day in Irish history but nonetheless forms the basis for Irish government policy on social welfare in the 1970s and 80s.

Related posts:

1. Black Death Prefereable To Current Government: New Poll Results
2. January 14 1043 AD: Danes Out Movement
3. January 19 1914 AD:The Village That Fought The Kaiser
4. January 3 1886 AD: Victoria Paints Ireland
5. January 1 1365 AD: Waterford Renamed By Pope

This entry was posted by Dermot Carmody on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 7:30 am and is filed under On This Day In Irish History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.