1)  

“What has eyes, but it can’t see?” 

“A potato!” 

2) My Irish grandmother shared this with me with hopes to express how much of a staple potatoes are in Irish cuisine. She said that even though this riddle may seem overly simplistic, the potato has sustained the Irish population for generations. She even mentioned to me that in 1845 the Irish Potato Famine literally wiped out over 1 million people because of a blight. 

3) This riddle was shared with me by my grandmother, amongst a set of 3 other riddles, over a zoom call that I had with her. 

4) I’ve heard other similar riddles such as “a needle” to answer the above riddle, but it’s my first time hearing this rendition. The fact that an oral tradition even exists in which a potato is personified through the riddle, suggests that the crop was a major form of sustenance for the Irish people. At the time of the famine, around 50% of Ireland’s population was dependent on potatoes for their major source of food.