Munster plums, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Munster plums n.

[proper name of the Irish county Munster and thus a synon. of the stereotype Irish adj.]

potatoes.

1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
[1786		J. O’Keeffe Wicklow Mountains 44: Quit your mother’s choice (the pink of fine gentlemen) for the dam’d lump of a munster potato].
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1812		Spirit of Irish Wit 119: These pills go by various names [...] Munster plumbs [...] Irish apricots.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1874		Belfast News Ltr 4 Apr. 4/9: According to Mr Tyler [...] ‘Welsh rabbit’ is a genuine slang term, founded upon the same principler which makes ‘Munzster pluims’ signify potatoes, and a ‘Jerusalem pony’ stand for a donkey.
1900		Reno (NV) Eve. Gazette 28 Apr. 2/2: The potato is [...] a ‘Munster plum’.
1919		Free Trader-Jrnl (Ottowa, IL) 8 Dec. 7/3: Gastronomic Animals [...] Irish apricots or Munster plums are potatoes.
1947		Eve. Teleg. (Dundee) 18 June 3/3: Are Munster plums good for plum pudding? [...] No, Munster plums are potatoes.
1997		Share Slanguage.