What's the story behind Irish Potatoes?

Question

ARE THEY REALLY FROM IRELAND? DOES IRELAND EVEN GROW COCONUT'S?

I'm not talking about actual potatoes. I'm talking about the treat you see in the States around St. Patty's day. Little balls of coconut & stuff coated in cinnamon.

Answer 1

I am Irish and I had never heard of Irish Potatoe candy, I would say that they originate in the US. The temperature in Ireland isn't hot enougn to grow coconuts as our top temperatures in summer would not be hot enough. The Coconut tree needs a minimum temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and our average summer temperature is only about 60 degrees.

Answer 2

The potato famines of the mid 19th century arose from an infestation of potato blight, Phytophthora infestans, which spread across Europe in the 1840s. Wherever the potato crop was lost, its effect was widely felt – in France and England for example. However, the nature of agriculture in Ireland causes the proportion of the food supply normally in the form of potatoes to be much greater than where the soils were better and the climate drier. The loss was therefore much more keenly felt than it was where other foods were available in the first season and other crops could subsequently be planted, so restoring a full supply of carbohydrate food in later years.

To this day, the best potatoes are grown in Ireland!

Answer 3

The story of an Irish potato is much like the story behind any other potato except with an Irish accent.

The best new potatoes are from New Zealand Sawyers Bay Dunedin Otago.They sell at $NZ95 per lb.