Kilkenny farmer John Crowley has a new catchline for his potatoes – ‘Olympian spuds’ – after he delivered a bag of his finest Queens to the Harrington household on Portland Row on Sunday last.
John, who grows 10ac of potatoes along with running a dairy enterprise with his brother Walter and nephew Stephen in Mooncoin, was on his way to the All-Ireland senior hurling championship semi-final between Kilkenny and Cork when he made the delivery.
Having beaten a path to Croke Park over the years, he is familiar with the area. “I went to my first All-Ireland in 1977 when Tony Doran, a farmer too, was playing for Wexford, and I organised buses for kids from Mooncoin GAA for years. We always parked in the same area.
“In recent years I have been driving up and have been giving potatoes to the unofficial car parking attendants in that area. When you’re a poor farmer, you have to barter.
“They all have their own patches and in all the years I have parked there, I have never had any problem whatsoever. I have huge respect for the people of that area, particularly the women.
“They are salt of the earth people and it’s a very close-knit community,” said John, who farms on the land where the ballad ‘The Rose of Mooncoin’ was written.
He decided to add to the Harrington family celebrations by dropping off a bag of potatoes with a personal note for gold medal winner Kellie and a pampering gift for her mother inside the bag.
“A close family relative came out at first and then Kellie’s brother came out. I gave him the bag on behalf of the people of Mooncoin and Kilkenny.
“I wished them a nice family dinner with the potatoes and Kellie’s brother laughed at the idea of getting a bag of spuds. Then I went off to Croke Park where we got a beating off Cork. It was all a good bit of fun.
“My motto has been ‘I grow the best and others grow the rest’. Now I say I grow ‘Olympian potatoes’,” John laughed.
“I used to grow up to 40ac of potatoes but I was blown out of the market by the big supermarkets. However, I keep digging my heels in, with British Queens, Kerr Pinks, Roosters and Golden Wonders,” he concluded.