Ayrshire Archaeological & Natural History Society

Tattie Howkers: Irish Potato Workers in Ayrshire

Heather Holmes

 

Ayrshire Monographs No. 31

ISBN—0 9542253 4 1

192 pp, illustrated

£4.50.

 

During the nineteenth and twentieth century thousands of Irish labourers crossed the North Channel and arrived in Ayrshire to ‘howk’ or dig potatoes. This fascinating account of their time in the county has been compiled by Heather Holmes, who works in the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. The research started as a doctoral thesis, which also resulted in another book, As good as a holiday: Potato harvesting in the Lothians, 1870 to the present, published in 2000 by Tuckwell Press.

This volume has chapters on Potato Culture and the Labour Force, Harvesting Work, Travelling to Ayrshire, Employment Conditions, Health and Illness, and many more. There are twelve photographs, plus other maps and tables.

As with all AANHS publications, the book is fully indexed and comes complete with endnotes.

 

‘Every visitor to Girvan and other resorts in Ayrshire has seen the potato diggers at work in the fields, driving to the post office on Saturday night to send their hard won earnings home to old folks in Achill.’

If your interest is in the history of potatoes, this book is for you. It is a thoroughly well researched book and does capture well the atmosphere of an era that is long gone…

 

Stuart Wale, Potato Newsletter, 2005.