It's official! An Irishman brought the first spuds to North America

WilyCoyote · 05-06-2013 2:00am #1

Today, the humble spud was made the State Vegetable of New Hampshire. Brought here by an Irishman, it gives the lie to what we learned in school history. Walter Raleigh must be turning in his grave after taking the kudos for years. Governor Maggie Hassan signed the decree this afternoon.

June 6th 2013

Potato Becomes New Hampshire's State Vegetable

By Jack Kenny

I had just picked up my copy of the Union Leader one morning when I noticed a story about a bill, passed overwhelmingly by the New Hampshire House, to officially declare the potato our state vegetable. A few minutes later I received an e-mail, offering a way to lower my blood pressure “naturally.” I thought it might be to stop reading the newspaper, but it was some other, less-useful suggestion.
The story told of how the humble potato was borne here from Ireland in 1719, via seeds carried by the Rev. James MacGregor, who planted them in the town now known as Derry (then a part of the township of Nutfield) in a field close to where the Derry Village School now stands. Students at the school discovered all that while researching the origins of the white potato in North America. The students were in the gallery when the House debated the potato bill, or the Spud Saga, if you prefer.
Yes, they actually debated the thing. Rep. John O’Connor, a Derry Republican, recalled the fine Irish ancestry of the noble potato and its pilgrimage across the Atlantic to Derry, where it enjoyed a new birth in freedom for the people of colonial America.

dodderangler · 05-06-2013 2:06am

Also brought over redheads

kneemos · 05-06-2013 2:07am

Wasn't it Walter Raleigh that brought the bicycle to Ireland?

Festy · 05-06-2013 2:12am

Best news I've have heard all year.Really makes you proud to be Irish I tell ya...

WilyCoyote · 05-06-2013 2:15am

dodderangler wrote: »

Also brought over redheads

If you mean Kerr's Pink? Very close but no cigar. They were blondes.

Karl Stein · 05-06-2013 2:18am

kneemos wrote: »

Wasn't it Walter Raleigh that brought the bicycle to Ireland?

And Lance Armstrong was the first person to cycle to the moon.

Smashing news all the same about the spuds.

Tulipout · 05-06-2013 2:19am

Feck all that foreign rice and pasta muck.

You can't beat the spud.

kneemos · 05-06-2013 2:25am

How did she sign the decree on June 6 when today is the 5th?

Killer Wench · 05-06-2013 2:29am

The potato came from South America and bloomed throughout the Americas and the Spanish took the potato to Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato

05-06-2013 2:38am

Well that story just got mashed to pieces.

WilyCoyote · 05-06-2013 2:40am

Killer Wench wrote: »

The potato came from South America and bloomed throughout the Americas and the Spanish took the potato to Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato[/QUOTE]

Read further down. A little bit of ambiguity here:

History

Main article: History of the potato
The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia [5] between 8000 and 5000 BCE.[6] It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries.
According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.[28] Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century. The staple was subsequently conveyed by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world.

Killer Wench · 05-06-2013 5:02am

WilyCoyote wrote: »

Killer Wench wrote: »

The potato came from South America and bloomed throughout the Americas and the Spanish took the potato to Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato[/QUOTE]

Read further down. A little bit of ambiguity here:

History

Main article: History of the potato
The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia [5] between 8000 and 5000 BCE.[6] It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries.
According to conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato was responsible for a quarter of the growth in Old World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.[28] Following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish introduced the potato to Europe in the second half of the 16th century. The staple was subsequently conveyed by European mariners to territories and ports throughout the world.

This really isn't that ambiguous:

"The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia[5] between 8000 and 5000 BCE.[6] It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries."

ONeill2013 · 05-06-2013 5:04am

you certainly learn something new every day

RobbingBandit · 05-06-2013 5:09am

Tulipout wrote: »

Feck all that foreign rice and pasta muck.

You can't beat the spud.

But you can blight it, I'll get me coat.

mike65 · 05-06-2013 8:44am

I know Americans are famously stupid both about history and the rest of the world but do the Irish have to chip in?

Lone Stone · 05-06-2013 9:03am

baked potato with butter and white cheese emmmm

Duckworth_Luas · 05-06-2013 9:08am

An American guy in Chicago once told me how surprising it was to see hot women in Dublin when he visited, especially when all they eat is potatoes!

TheLastMohican · 05-06-2013 12:34pm

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

An American guy in Chicago once told me how surprising it was to see hot women in Dublin when he visited, especially when all they eat is potatoes!

Goodbye Mr Chips!

Joking aside, you could live on Taytos, high blood pressure tablets and some fluids.

LordSutch · 05-06-2013 12:59pm

"The potato was first domesticated in the region of modern-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia[5] between 8000 and 5000 BCE.[6] It has since spread around the world and become a staple crop in many countries." /Wiki.

--Kaiser-- · 05-06-2013 1:22pm

I thought everyone knew that potatoes came from America?
Wait...this is AH....

WilyCoyote · 05-06-2013 1:40pm

Have just checked with ancestry.com and, after paying my $22.95, they've assured me that spuds came from South America to USA via Ireland. The name change to fries is thought to be the origin of the confusion.

TheLastMohican · 16-03-2015 2:37pm

That Ancestry.com is deadly. We now know that the Walker and Lay families all originated from a single spud (TomàsheenTayto) that emigrated from the Claddagh in the late 18thcentury. Let's hear it for the Mr Tayto on this St Patrick's Week.