1847 – “Turnip Bread”

Tipperary Free Press, 24 April 1847

April 1847 and Ireland’s over-reliance on the potato as a staple had been tragically and horrifically exposed many months previous. Desperate attempts had been made to provide a substitute for the starving population, perhaps the most infamous being “Indian Meal”, or maize. Another option put forward here in the columns of the Tipperary Free Press is “turnip bread”. It is not stated who exactly the author – Robert Greenlaw – is, but operating a few years previous as a Weights and Measures Inspector for Downpatrick division was a gentleman of the same name. Not content with describing the preparation of the bread, Greenlaw went the extra mile and included a sample of the finished product in his correspondence with the editor.