preservation of Ireland

(originally published on March 17, 2011.)



Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

A happy Feast of Pádraig to you all.

Of note: Nothing that the United States celebrates, barring perhaps potatoes, on this day is historically accurate at all. And, considering most families fled to the United States during the potato famine, even potatoes as a traditional dish would be viewed with both yearning and loathing--that desire for the life they once had, coupled with carried-over fears from an Gorta Mór, or the "Great Hunger".

What is important in the American celebrations, however, is something most of us have long since forgotten. A great many Irish settlers settled in and around New England and the east coast, and did their best to adapt to the ways there.

One of the traditions adopted in the 'new home' was that of the New England boiled dinner. Now, why this is relevant is also interesting: it was widely known, also, as one of many 'poor man's suppers': a cheap cut of meat, pickled with spices to preserve it longer, boiled to tenderize it, with whatever root vegetables one had on hand from the fields or from barter. It made its own broth, and with the addition of those root vegetables and later, cabbage, became something reasonably healthful that would sustain hard-working men and women in scratching out a meager existence in the US.

When we celebrate the Feast of Pádraig, we aren’t celebrating traditional Irish food in the least. Even in our household, we mix things up, and serve colcannon, traditionally a harvest dish, for the Feast. But what we are celebrating, perhaps, is more important, with our corned beef brisket and our boiled potatoes. We celebrate Irish tenacity. We celebrate the struggle to live, and remember, and retain that connection to home, even when home is inconceivably far away. We celebrate the spirit of survival for any people, all people, Irish or not.

Defeat may humble us, the rule of kings may crush us, the planet itself may revolt against us...but we survive. And we remember. On this day, if no other, that is the true spirit of the celebration.

May your feasting table groan with bounty, may your ale flow unceasingly, may you lift your hearts and voices in songs of old remembrance. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.