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St. Patrick’s Day


    Ireland becomes especially popular on March 17th with the celebration of the beloved St. Patrick who is the patron saint of Ireland.

He was a missionary to Ireland as he brought Christianity to Ireland.  

He was born in Britain but was kidnapped at the age of 16 and was taken to Ireland to be a slave. He escaped slavery and converted the Irish to Christianity.  He died on March 17, 461 and is remembered to have established churches, schools and monasteries. Using the three-leafed shamrock St. Patrick explained the trinity of God.  That being the Father, Son and The Holy spirit.  He was known for driving heavily populated snakes out of Ireland using the spirit of God.   


    Dublin Ireland celebrates St. Patrick's Day on March 17th year after year with people from all over the world in order to share their music, poetry, storytelling, language, and heritage, not to mention beer and whiskey!  This is a three day celebration consisting of a parade, a play, music in the streets and gleeful dancing!  You cannot help it enjoy yourselves.  Like all outdoor activities such as the Oktoberfest in Germany, the Irish celebrate hard!    


    Besides wearing green and drinking green tinged beer or Irish whiskey cocktails, they celebrate with a meal of corned beef, brisket, potatoes (called champ– which are mashed potatoes with onions and fresh cream and lots of butter), cabbage and carrots and or onion rings.  Along with this heart-warming meal, soda bread is served.  It is simply made with flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk giving it a crispy and crackly crust.  Stout-Battered Onion rings are made the usual way with a batter of paprika, honey and mustard for a special taste of sweetness and spice.  


    For dessert, Irish Coffee Ice Cream is loaded with caramel, roasted coffee grounds and lots of Irish whiskey.  With a sweet but yet bitter, smoky combination it’s topped off with candied pecans and shaved dark chocolate.


By Niki Achitoff-Gray