Tradition Says Plant Your Potatoes on Good Friday

Have you heard people say you should plant your potatoes on Good Friday?  An old wives tale perhaps, or an old tradition.  Where did it come from?  I have read that cottagers were working so hard that Good Friday was the only day between New Year and Easter that  they had free to get into their garden to start planting. 

One of Vincent Van Gogh's Cottagers

Farmers Planting Potatoes, by Vincent Van Gogh

However, an older tradition says that after the potato's introduction to Europe in the 16th Century from the Peruvian  Andes, Protestants in the UK and Ireland would not plant potatoes because they were not mentioned in the Bible.  The Catholics though, were OK about it as long as the seed potatoes were sprinkled with Holy Water, and planted on Good Friday, so that they were baptised.

Photo:Potato planting in Chawaytiri,Peru 2010, from the National Museum of the American Indian

I have been reading gardeners thoughts, and it seems that the Good Friday tradition is not always practical, especially if you are in an area where snow is still on the ground, but others swear by it. 

Have you heard of this tradition, and where do you stand? 
Is there some merit in having a special day to plant our potatoes, being that the potato itself is so special?
Or is it simply up to timing and the weather, and what is ready when?


I really would love to hear your thoughts on this one.