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Sláinte! Christmas – Winter Solstice

By Edythe Preet

November December 1993

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Christmas season is the time to eat, drink and be merry! Wherever one goes it seems, someone is slicing up a fruitcake or pouring a glass of holiday cheer. Surrounded as we are by Madison Avenue merchandising it's easy to forget that at this time of year we are participating in one of the oldest rituals known to humankind. Eons before the birth of the Child whom angels praised … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Christmas – Winter Solstice

Sláinte! Samhain: The Celtic New Year

By Edythe Preet

September October 1993

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Halloween is a night of magic, mystery and merry making. Ghosts haunt the imagination and trick-or-treaters go begging from door to door. Though the evening's colors are black and orange, they could as easily be forty shades of green because the customs of All Hallows Eve are Irish as the shamrock. The ancient Celtic year was divided by the four seasons. Samhain (November I) … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Samhain: The Celtic New Year

Heroes of the Revolution

By Irish America Staff

Winter 2025

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As the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence approaches,  Edythe Preet looks to March 17, 1776, and the role the Irish played in America’s  bid for freedom. Pop quiz: what color ink is used to sign legislative bills into law? If you answered black, you’d be right with one exception. On March 12, 1941 Massachusetts Governor Leverett Saltonstall … [Read more...] about Heroes of the Revolution

Slainte! Birds of Celtic Myths and Legend

By Edythe Preet

Fall 2025

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In Irish Folklore the Raven was thought to be a messenger from the other world. Autumn is upon us. The leaves have gone gold and scarlet, night falls earlier, the air turns chill, and the season to plant crops won’t come again until Spring. For our ancestors, it was time to breathe a sigh of relief that summer had produced a bountiful harvest and rejoice in that good fortune … [Read more...] about Slainte! Birds of Celtic Myths and Legend

Sláinte!: There is Nothin Like a Spud

By Edythe Preet

July/August 1994

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Whether they're baked, boiled, roasted, fried, mashed or hashed, potatoes are a cornerstone of Ireland's diet. Hardly a dinner is served without its helping of boiled spuds. Fish invariably comes with a side of crisp chips. Colcannon (mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage) can almost be called a national dish. In fact, potatoes are so much a part of life in Ireland that many … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: There is Nothin Like a Spud