Blood on the Boyne, Bloody Butcher, Irish Molloy and Red Brandy may sound like the names of exotic cocktails or even Irish rebel songs. They are, in fact, apples - and not just any old apples, but native Irish species which have been saved from extinction through the efforts of the Irish Seed Savers, the Armagh Trust and the department of horticulture at UCD.
Apples have played a major role in dietary history. The ancient Greeks used them as an aphrodisiac. Celtic tribesmen associated them with powers of love and fertility. The English saw them as a source of medical potions and a cure for constipation, while the Normans discovered their alcoholic possibilities and invented cider.
The history of the apple is well chronicled in The Book of Apples by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards (Ebury Press, £22.50 in UK). At one stage, estate-grown apples were a centrepiece of the English Victorian dinner table, with landowners enthusing over their produce in reverent tones, rather like the wine buffs of today.
Cheaper imports
But by the late 1890s, Australian, New Zealand and South African varieties were putting the native British apple under serious threat as consumers opted for the cheaper imports. Growers were forced to abandon many of the local varieties in favour of a handful of reliable commercial lines.
Cox's Orange Pippin became the established market favourite, but by 1909 the breed was so plagued by disease that the British apple industry faced disaster.
Just in time, lime sulphur sprays were developed which enabled the Cox to make a fightback and regain its healthy complexion. Today it survives as the mainstay of the British apple industry. Nevertheless, today imported apples account for 60 per cent of the British market.
There are thousands of different types of apples in the world, 2,300 alone in the National Apple Collection at Faversham, in Kent. According to scholars, there are nine basic shapes from flat to conical. As for names, while some offer clues, others will keep you guessing. Peasgood's Nonsuch, Jonathan Ashmead's Kernel and Scotch Dumpling will have you scratching your head, while Catshead, Ananas Reinette and Brown Snout do offer some hint of explanation.
Although the apple has been popular in Ireland for hundreds of years, there was very little research or documentation on the fruit until 1949 when a young British student called J.G. Lamb travelled to this country to record Irish apples for his doctoral thesis. He identified 40 different species and, anxious to conserve them, he collected samples and stored them at a centre in Glasnevin, Dublin.
Accidentally destroyed
However, when the National Institute for Higher Education, now Dublin City University, was under construction in the 1970s, Lamb's collection was accidentally bulldozed and destroyed. Some mitigation of this calamity came several years later, when it was discovered that the National Apple Collection at Faversham had the entire Irish stock. Arrangements were made to transport cuttings back to Ireland when fate struck again. Fireblight broke out and a protection order was put in force, making it impossible to return the collection to this country until 1993.
Since then, tissue cuttings have been brought here and Professor Michael Hennerty of UCD's department of horticulture has been sifting them and attempting to grow them. He says he has encountered a lot of difficulties: many of the species are very old and just don't want to grow.
While the UCD team is working at the Belfield nurseries, the Irish Seed Savers and the Armagh Trust are busy travelling the country in search of new species identified by J.G. Lamb, who is still very much involved in efforts to save the Irish apple collection.
Remote farms
Anita Hayes, founder of the Irish Seed Savers, says a lot of old apples have been located in the Kilkenny/Tipperary area in remote farms and derelict houses. She says that the public has been very energetic in locating them and contacting the Seed Savers.
Ms Hayes says she decided to take up the search for the lost apples because the old species were disappearing and nobody seemed to care. There was no official agency which seemed interested in conserving them. Already her team, which is based in Scariff, Co Clare, has saved several species. They plan to plant an orchard where people can view the old species and buy clippings to plant at home.
So, next time you are browsing round the fruit section of your local supermarket, instead of asking for the tired old Golden Delicious and Granny Smiths, why don't you be a bit more adventurous and surprise them by asking for a Sheep's Nose or Bloody Butcher?
But don't be surprised if no one has a clue what you're talking about.