After Monday’s post about St John’s Church in Clonmellon, County Westmeath, here is an image of another monument in the same part of the world: the obelisk in the grounds of Killua Castle. It was erected in 1810 by Sir Thomas Chapman to honour the memory of Sir Walter Raleigh who supposedly first introduced the potato into Ireland in 1589; the Chapmans originally came to this country thanks to the support of Raleigh who was a maternal first cousin.
Raleigh was supposed to have stopped off at Castle Matrix between Newcastlewest and Adare in Limerick with the prized potato… according to local legend and the now owner of Castle Matrix/Matre
Thanks; I suspect there are sites all around the country where Raleigh is believed to have planted the first potato…