THIS WEEK'S FEATURE ARTICLES

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More than just Guinness
A member of my extended family has roots in Ireland, then Canada, back to France, then Ireland again through the mists of time.
My Irish connections celebrate St Patrick’s Day on 17 March, a saint’s day that began as a solemn religious observance in Ireland, but which has evolved into a widespread celebration noted for its parades and emerald-green decorations.
The shamrock has long been associated with St Patrick’s Day, though its history goes back to pre-Christian times. According to legend, the saint used the three leaves to illustrate the Holy Trinity, though there is no historical evidence for this. Along with the harp, the shamrock is one of Ireland’s state emblems.
But St Patrick’s Day goes far beyond shamrocks and Guinness.
Wherever the Irish settled, they seeded St Patrick’s Day celebrations. On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, often called the ‘Emerald Isle of the Caribbean’, St Patrick’s Day is even a national holiday, the only one celebrated outside Ireland. Monserrat commemorates a failed 1768 uprising of enslaved Africans against British colonial rule, thus combining the island’s Irish and African influences in one celebration.
In Canada, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador also holds a public holiday on St Patrick’s Day, celebrating the many Irish immigrants who settled there in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The United States doesn’t give its citizens the day off, but does host some of the largest and most elaborate St Patrick’s Day celebrations in the world. One of the strangest takes place in Chicago, where a tradition has evolved of turning the Chicago River green. It all started in 1962 when city workers were trying to detect the source of river pollution. They used a dye, which they found turned the river emerald. People turned out to see this strange sight, so the idea evolved as a St Patrick’s Day tradition and now draws large crowds. Today’s dye formula is a closely guarded secret, but organisers promise it is environmentally safe.
As St Patrick’s Day evolved into
a celebration of Irish heritage and nationality for Irish Americans, corned beef and cabbage became a holiday tradition across the nation. Most Irish immigrants were initially poor, so they bought corned beef, combined it with cabbage, creating a hearty dish.
Corned beef has been around for centuries and has been a staple in many cultures, including most of Europe and the Middle East. It gets its name from ‘corns’, large grains of salt used to cure the meat. Ireland became known for exporting corned beef in the 17th century after British landowners brought cattle to Ireland.
But the Irish couldn’t afford to eat it themselves. Their traditional dishes used corned pork instead, and they relied heavily on potatoes to survive.
In the 18th century, when large numbers of Irish immigrants went to the US, they retained the idea of beef as a luxury. So, when they found salted beef brisket was cheap, they were quick to replace their traditional ‘Irish bacon’. Nutrient-dense cabbage was readily available and affordable, and a dish combining the two became a staple for working classes across the country.
In Ireland, the traditional meal often featured lamb or beef stew, shepherd’s pie, and ‘colcannon’, a mix of mashed potatoes, cabbage or kale, and butter. That sounds very like the dish we grew up knowing as ‘bubble and squeak’, although I think we added scraps of bacon.
Soda bread, a simple, dense Irish bread made with baking soda instead of yeast, is also popular.
As for the Guinness, that has record sales on this once Holy Day.
Marian Hearn



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