Celebrating All Things Irish!
Very little of St. Patrick’s Day has to do with green beer and lucky charms.. and, yet, the United States has managed to commercialize it to it’s eyeballs.
The March 17th celebration of St. Patrick’s Day first began in 1631 by the Church in honor of St. Patrick.
Originally born a citizen of Roman Britain.. he was captured at sixteen by pirates and taken to Ireland where he was sold into slavery.
It’s still largely unknown whether he escaped or was released but he did manage to make his way back to his homeland where he became a priest.. it was his luck in successfully converting many Irish to the Christian faith that earned him the title of Patron Saint.
Ever notice how these origin stories are never very pleasant?
Anyway..
I hope, whether you celebrate it or not, that you have an amazing St Patrick’s Day!
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My favorite book set in Ireland:
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks . . . until something extraordinary happens.
When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death—a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone—Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae. . . .
As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane—an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book—because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands. . . .
A book with my favorite Irish myth/folktale:
Cernunnos, ‘The Horned One’
An ancient Celtic deity of beasts and wild things.. he often symbolizes fertility and hunting.
Cernunnos is easily one of the most impressive (and fascinating) of the Celtic gods.
Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt.
No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams.
And if all that’s not bad enough, in the three years Joanne’s been a cop, she’s never seen a dead body—but she’s just come across her second in three days.
It’s been a bitch of a week.
And it isn’t over yet.
My favorite place in Ireland:
The gardens that surround Blarney Castle (Caisleán na Blarnan) near Cork, Ireland.
Everywhere in Ireland is beautiful. The people are wonderful, the food is amazing, the land and air vibrate with it’s history..
It’s easy to believe that myth and magic come alive here.. but the land surrounding Blarney Castle was particularly peaceful to me.
If you’re ever given the opportunity to visit Ireland.. Take it and don’t look back.
One of my favorite Irish covers:
Wake Me Up by Avicii (cover by the students of TG Lurgan, an independent Irish language summer school)
An Irish author:
I would normally go with C. S. Lewis but..
I recently picked up Stuart Neville‘s latest book ‘The House of Ashes‘ and it just so happens that he is also Irish. (Go figure, right?)
I’m nowhere near done with it yet but, so far, it’s been a fantastic read!
Sara Keane’s husband, Damien, has uprooted them from England and moved them to his native Northern Ireland for a “fresh start” in the wake of her nervous breakdown. Sara, who knows no one in Northern Ireland, is jobless, carless, friendless—all but a prisoner in her own house. When a blood-soaked old woman beats on the door, insisting the house is hers before being bundled back to her care facility, Sara begins to understand the house has a terrible history her husband never intended for her to discover. As the two women form a bond over their shared traumas, Sara finds the strength to stand up to her abuser, and Mary—silent for six decades—is finally ready to tell her story . . .
A Favorite Irish celebrity:
Michael Gambon
Many may not know it but our beloved Professor Dumbledore is actually Irish born.
Born in Cabra, Dublin in 1940 – Michael Gambon is one of Britian’s most distinguished actors and, unsurprisingly, a fan favorite among the bookish crowd. Known for many brilliant roles throughout the years but most reconisably (to me) as our dearest Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter, Baltus Van Tassel (Katrina’s father) in Sleepy Hollow, and George in The Book of Eli.. There’s no doubt that this man is a great actor.
Irish foods:
I’m freaking addicted to boxty/potato pancakes.. Simple but, Oh, so delicious.
This is not the recipe I normally would use but I can’t seem to find that one so, for your viewing pleasure, a similar recipe for this amazing Irish side dish/snack.
Boxty (Irish Potato Pancakes)
PREP TIME 15 mins
COOK TIME 15 mins
MASHED POTATO CHILL TIME 3 hrs
TOTAL TIME 3 hrs 30 mins
COURSE Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch
CUISINE Irish
SERVINGS 8
CALORIES197 kcal
Ahh! This was just supposed to be a quick and simple post!
But, still, every time I think it’s finished.. I find another thing I love about Ireland.
I’m putting my foot down and calling it good.
What is something you love about Ireland/the Irish?
Is Ireland somewhere you would like to visit one day? If not.. where would you like to go?
I have read a fair number of wonderful books in the last few years that featured Ireland, were by Irish writers, or incorporated meaningful connections to Ireland in their tales.
The Butchers’ Blessing by Ruth Gilligan (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3637661216) gathers up Ireland old, new, and imagined, during a time of change, with a murder to figure out and a coming age tale for feels.
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3405704395) – is a cli-fi novel about the end of avian life and a compulsion to move on, centering on an Irish woman. It peels back her history as she chases Arctic terns on what may be their final migration.
Country by Michael Hughes – (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2957547851)
Is a remarkably effective retelling of the Iliad set in the 1990s border wars between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The Heart’s invisible Furies by John Boyne (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2079338229) – the life of a gay boy, then man, over 70 years from his birth to the enactment of legalization of same-sex marriage in Ireland, in seven-year steps. There is plenty said in here about the backwardness of much of Irish society. It is a great book.
Breakfast at Cannibal Joe’s by Jay Spencer Green (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1780438103) – a satiric, novel set in the hell that is a near-future dystopian Dublin, featuring spies from various nations, with much outrageous humor, LOL-funny
Thomas Murphy by Roger Rosenblatt (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1472359524) features an expat Irish writer living on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and facing the possible beginnings of dementia. It is moving, funny, and one of the best books I have ever read.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (https://cootsreviews.com/2021/11/12/weighing-the-cost-of-silence-small-things-like-these-by-claire-keegan/) is a brand new Christmas classic, in which a decent man in 1985 recession-plagued Ireland is faced with a gut-wrenching moral decision during the Christmas season. It includes a look at the Madgdalene Laundries scandal.
Sadly, I have never visited the Emerald Isle, despite being of Irish descent.
Wow, thank you, these all sound very interesting.. I think The Butcher’s Blessing and Migrations were my favorites, though, I had to add those.
I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had the chance to visit Ireland.. I hope that you get to one day. It’s worth it.
Happy St Patrick’s Day!🍀
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!! Ireland looks like such a beautiful place to visit- I would love to go someday. Also I had no idea Michael Gambon was Irish. He’s a fantastic actor.
Thank you, we had a lovely day here! How was yours?🍀
Ireland was a dream.. I can’t for the life of me figure out why we left. I do hope you’re able to see it one day!
And I really do adore Michael Gambon. He really is talented. 🥰
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Thank you! It was beautiful here!
How was yours?
70s and sunny – a gorgeous day
That’s wonderful. ☺🌷
Happy St Patrick’s day Sheri!💚💚. The pictures are beautiful! And I absolutely love potato pancakes! Thanks for sharing!😋😋
Wow.. Thank you! I know I’m late responding (my apologies) but I hope you had a great St Patrick’s day too!
It’s almost criminal how addictive and easy to make potato pancakes are.. 😂
Would love to visit Ireland one day! My husband is half-Irish and so it would be a great family trip to bring the kids too.
It’s worth it!
I really wish the opportunity to travel were possible for more people. There are so many beautiful places in the world.. It seems a shame they’re not able to be appreciated.
I truly hope you get the chance to go someday. Especially with the kids. It’s an unforgettable experience. 💯💕
Happy St Patrick’s day!!! What a fun post!
Thank you! I hope yours went beautifully!