Aer Lingus -- Take Us Away

Ireland's Scenic Coastline

You know when you discover something for yourself and you can't wait to share it with your friends?

Well, that's the way I feel about Ireland.

I haven't been back to Ireland for years but I will never forget the trip that I made with my husband.  Fantastic and magical from beginning to end.  I was very sad to leave.

And now one of my sisters and her husband are flying to Ireland today and I'm so envious!

 

I am also excited for them for I know that once they land in Dublin tomorrow they will forget about the daily grind of life here and fall into the more relaxed and civilized way of life in Ireland, marked by the most delicious brown bread in the whole wide world and the freshest salmon.  The Guinness and the Smithwick's tastes better in Ireland too!

I wish them a safe and romantic trip in the land of the green as they discover the incredible mix of history, beauty, creativity and Ireland's best resource: its people!  I don't think my sister and her husband will travel through Ireland as quickly as this video shows but I'm sure the scenic beauty will stay with you and them for a long time.  Watch and see:

An Irish Memory

In the spare words of poetry, I find simple elegance and peace.

 

Poetry helps to bring me back to my center.  To take a deep breath.  To slow down and find my direction.

If you are not familiar with William Butler Yeats, he was a distinguished Irish poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923, the first Irishman so honored, and later, with others, went on to found the world famous Abbey Theatre located in Dublin.

 

Yeats' The Lake of Innisfree is musical in its words and when I close my eyes, I imagine I am in Killarney, Ireland about 24 years ago when my husband was alive.  A local man who owned a boat offered to take us out on the lake near the Muckross House and he is slowly rowing us and as we gently glide through the water of the lake, it's quiet and beautiful and the wind is blowing.

 

The Emerald Isle

 

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
By William Butler Yeats 1865–1939

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
 

FullSet -- A Hot Irish Band

I just discovered the infectious and energetic sounds of an Irish band called FullSet, recently named "New Group of the Year" for 2012 by the Live Ireland Music Awards.

Just listening to their music makes me feel better!

 

Music definitely has healing powers and therapists have found that music's curative powers can alleviate pain and help not only those of us recovering from a loss but also people recovering from strokes and other medical traumas. 

 

Music unlocks differents parts of the brain depending on the music's pitch, harmony or rhythm and provides a medium for creative expression whether your are creating it, making it, singing along to it or just listening and dancing to it. 

And seein' as we're starting to roll into a weekend that will be marked by days of celebrations for St. Patrick's Day, listening to FullSet will definitely get you into the right mood. 

 

It doesn't matter whether you have a drop of Irish blood in you or not, I guarantee that FullSet's music will make your foot start tapping, your hands start clapping and your heart feelin' a whole lot lighter!

Take it away FullSet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Bpg9Jznq3RU

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to My Irish Twin

 

Happy Birthday Sheila!

 

Today is my sister Sheila's birthday so for the next month we will be the same age.

 

How can we be the same age for a month?

 

We are Irish twins.

 

I was born in January and she was born in December of the same year.  Busy parents, yes?  Irish twins are defined as a pair of siblings born within 12 to 16 months of each other. When we were young children, our mother would dress us alike as though we were twins and we have lots of pictures from holidays in the same dresses and coats.  I must say that my sister Sheila is better at pulling herself together, even as a child, so she usually looked better in her outfits.

 

I think the term "Irish twins" came to be because the majority of Irish are Catholic and the Catholic Church doesn't support the practice of birth control even though it does support the practice of the "rhythm method."  I come from a family of six children (I am the oldest) and during my childhood a family of six or more children was not unusual.

 

If you aren't familiar with the "rhythm method," here's an old joke that should tell you a lot about its effectiveness:  Do you know what they call people who practice the rhythm method?

 

Parents! Ba Dump Bump.

 

Anyway, back to my sister.  We have had our ups and downs, as most sisters do, but we have a lot of great memories from our childhood and as adults, getting married and raising our children.  Having a sister so close in age means that we were always together; especially when my mother would take us shopping.

 

One time when we about 4 or 5 years old, we were shopping with our mother and we started playing hide and seek behind the rounds of clothes.  Our mother must have been really been preoccupied with something else because usually she would blow a gasket if we got away from her.

 

We were small enough to stand behind the coats and we thought no one could see us.  We must of played this game for only a few minutes when I thought we were lost in the store.  Our mother was only one aisle over from us but I couldn't see her.  I think I sat on the floor and started to cry and then I told my sister Sheila that we were in big trouble because we lost our mother.  I completely fell apart.

 

What happened next was a complete role reversal in our relationship and something that made me feel closer to her: Sheila stayed calm and comforted me and told me that everything would be all right, that we would find our mother and I shouldn't cry.

 

And she was right.  Our mother says she knew where we were the whole time and she was keeping an eye on us and thought it was funny.

 

Lots of love and Happy Birthday to my Irish twin sister Sheila!

 

Here's to making many more great memories together!!

 

Compassion at 12th Street Irish Pub

 

 

 

A Bar at the Folies Bergere
By Edouard Manet

 

Besides making drinks, bartenders do a lot of listening.

 

Many times when people go to a bar, they are looking for someone to talk to, someone who will listen to their troubles and sympathize with what has happened to them.

 

In our fast-paced world, finding someone who will sit and absorb our words is so helpful and comforting.  Listening is a powerful thing.

 

Someone is pouring out their problems to you and in the telling of the problem, they are working through what has happened to them.  The retelling and retelling may go on but eventually the person may work through it for themselves what they need to do next.  Or maybe not. 

 

I'm not suggesting that you go to a bar to drown your troubles, but I saw this interesting piece of information and thought I would pass it along because it comes from someone who has probabably heard it all, yet he understands the human psyche and feels deep compassion.

From a bartender's point of view, this is how comforting works.  In the October 2012 Oprah magazine, Jimmy Vecere, a bartender at the 12th Street Irish Pub in Philadelphia, gives us his sage advice:

 

"We're a block from a hospital, so in my 31 years here I've met many people who've just received bad news.  If you see someone in distress, don't hesitate to talk to them.  Once you've heard their story, sometimes all you have to say is, 'I'll be thinking of you.'  Your words are more powerful than you think."

 

Irish Power

I love a day dedicated to the celebration of all things Irish!  St. Patrick's day is definitely all about having a grand time but there's a lot more to being Irish than hanging out in a bar and drinking green beer, downing pints of Guinness and slamming whiskey shots.

 

 

To me, it's also a day to pause, think about my peeps and take pride in my culture.  It's a culture rich in its ancient history and magical in its talents.  We are story tellers, dancers, weavers of thoughts and ideas and a people who have a lot of pride in their simple roots.  We have a way of looking at the world a little differently and there's certainly a humorous or witty twist associated with our point of view.  And we always like to break the rules a bit and shake things up.  Why be like everyone else?

Years ago when the Irish first arrived in Boston, there was movement against hiring the Irish.  To make sure the Irish got the message, businesses would hang the following sign in the window if they had a job opening: "HELP WANTED No Irish Need Apply."  A friend of mine found one of those signs on eBay and gave it to me.  I had it framed and it hangs in my office as a gentle reminder of the way things used to be.  I think you can safely say we've made a lot of progress since those days.

It's also a day when I am reminded of how I got my name.  When my mother was pregnant with me, she and my father went to the movies to see "The Quiet Man," starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.  The movie was filmed in Ireland and John Wayne plays the role of an American boxer named Sean Thornton who travels back to Ireland to escape controversy and reclaim his  roots.  Maureen O' Hara plays a firey Irish lass named Mary Kate Danaher.  My parents fell in love with the name as soon as they heard it and agreed that if they had a girl they would name her Mary Kate.

Flash forward many many years to 1989 and my late husband and I are traveling in Ireland.  We splurged and stayed one night in the spectacular Ashford Castle because "The Quiet Man" was filmed on the grounds surrounding the castle.  It was a memorable trip and we loved that every day at 4 pm "The Quiet Man" is shown on the hotel's television channel.  Sometimes when I am meeting someone new they make the connection between my name and the movie and they will repeat some lines from the movie to me.  It's a wonderful funny movie directed by John Ford.  I never tire of watching it and you should check it out.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I would like to share two wee items.  The first one is a traditional Irish Blessing:

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

The rains fall soft upon your fields and,

Until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

The second item is a favorite saying from a friend of mine:

 "Dress British.  Think Yiddish.  Be Irish."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Soda Bread

Hi My Faithful Readers,

I am going in a different direction today and I hope you are okay with it...

Whether you're cooking corned beef, cabbage and potatoes der boy or you're stewing some beef and Guinness, a freshly baked loaf of Irish Soda bread will lend a touch of the old country to your St. Patrick's Day celebration.

I grew up in a large family of six children and we ate A LOT of Irish soda bread.  My favorite way to eat soda bread is when it's still warm from the oven with lots of orange marmalade spread on it.  It is so delicious and easy to make because there is no yeast in this bread!

There are two schools of taste concerning Irish soda bread.  The first school (mine) prefers a pure and classic soda bread that is closer to what you would find in a pub in Ireland.  The second school prefers a soda bread that is sweeter, more like a cake, with raisins, caraway seeds or both.

Here is my tried and true recipe for Irish Soda bread.  You be the judge and please tell me how it turns out for you! 

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter or regular margarine, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon butter or regular margarine, melted

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375F.  Lightly grease a small cookie sheet.
2.  In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.  Cut in softened butter with a pastry blender or a fork until mixture looks like fine crumbs
4.  Add buttermilk; mix in with a fork only until dry ingredients are moistened.
5.  Turn out on lightly floured pastry cloth or board.  Knead gently until smooth -- about 1 minute.  Shape into a ball.  Place on a prepared cookie sheet: flatten into a 7-inch circle (Dough will be about
 1-1/2 inches thick.)  Press a large floured knife into center of loaf almost about half way through the loaf.  Repeat, at right angles to divide the loaf into quarters.
6.  Bake 30-40 minutes, or until top is golden and loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
7.  Remove to wire rack to cool.  Brush top with melted butter.  Dust with flour, if you wish.

Makes 1 loaf.