Today's author spotlight: R. L. Cherry
St. Patrick’s Day, Green Beer and Blue Mead

St. Patrick’s Day, originally a feast day of the Catholic church, has become a major American drunken celebration. Before I get into the down and dirty, let me assure you that St. Patrick never drank green beer. In fact, drinkers in ancient Ireland had a choice of ale (no hops) or mead (honey based), unless they wanted to pony up for imported wine. So beer is obviously not an ancient Irish tradition. How about the color green? Is it Irish because Ireland is called the Emerald Isle? This is a question that is still up for debate.
First raised in 1919, the Irish flag has three wide, vertical stripes. In reverse order, one is orange, one is white and one is green. This flag was designed in an attempt to join the Catholic and Protestant factions as a united Ireland.

Okay, how about the white stripe? If you were sitting in between two groups who had a history of fighting each other, what flag would you raise? It is generally accepted that the white is meant to be a flag of truce between the warring factions.
And so, we return to green beer. It is about as Irish as the Union Jack. Or a margarita. It’s just the American misconception of what is Irish. So be a rebel. Be a traditionalist. Be an individual.
When your friends ask if you want a green beer, say, “Heck, no. I want a blue mead. After all, that’s a real Irish drink.”
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

R. L. Cherry is the author of Christmas Cracker. What begins as a vacation for private investigator Morg Mahoney soon becomes a murder mystery laced with threads of local history, race horses, the IRA, family secrets, a touch of romance and, of course, pure greed. More...
Ron, what a great story on Ireland. I always thought they preferred their Irish whiskey. I also thought ale and beer were almost the same thing. So I learned a lot in this enjoyable post--and I should know better as I'm part irish--even though I prefer Scottish--which I mostly am--whiskey
ReplyDeleteAh, but in Scotland, it's whisky. No "e." I prefer both whiskey and whisky, over beer or ale. The Gaelic is uisce beatha, or water of life. Aptly named, is it not?
DeleteI've got no Irish roots, but I still like your blog post, Sharla!! You're such a great writer!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for clearing up some of the misconceptions of Ireland. I had no idea what the truth really was, so thanks for sharing! Just goes to prove that you can learn something new every day. Thanks, dear friend!
ReplyDeleteYou are quite welcome. I love history and I love the British Isles. I learned something today about this March 17th: it is not the feast of St. Patrick. If it falls on a Sunday, a church feast day already, it is moved to Monday. So stretch it out and celebrate today AND tomorrow! That's a real Irish way to do it.
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