Irish America
Irish America
Promenade. Ambulate. Ramble, rove, and wander. Trudge. Strut. Meander, stroll and saunter. Call it what you will, but moving your feet one after the other along the ground all comes down to a very basic physical activity. Walking. It's one of the things the Irish do best. No matter the time of day, the season, or the weather. From top to bottom and sea to sea, tiny Ireland is … [Read more...] about Slàinte! A Taste of Bloomsday
Writing this column usually sends me on a trip down memory lane reliving scenes from my childhood and moments with my father, a meat-and-potatoes man if there ever was one. It never occurred to me while growing up that there might be reasons for Dad's menu preferences, but investigating Ireland's culinary history continues to reveal that his food choices were a much as part of … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Dun Cow
Ireland's autumn provides many wonderful taste delights. Chief among them are goose, pork, potatoes and apples, all of which figure prominently as traditional foods during the season's three principal feast times, Michaelmas, Samhain and Martinmas. In old Irish tradition, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel (September 29) was known as Fomhar na nGeanna - the Goose … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: The Taste of Autumn
Though Jonathan Swift is believed by many to have said, "He was a brave man who first dared to eat oysters," the quote predates Dublin's good doctor by about one hundred years, and was most likely first uttered by James I of England (1566-1625) at a royally excessive sixteenth century banquet. But the Irish had discovered the pleasure of eating oysters long before his majesty … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: The World Is My (Irish) Oyster
Scattered along Northern Ireland's rugged coast, forty thousand hexagonal columns trail from a stretch of cliffs to the sea. The unique rock formation is known worldwide as The Giant's Causeway. It resulted millions of years ago when a volcanic eruption spewed molten basalt into the air. As seawater slowly cooled the red hot lava, it formed into vertical clusters of mostly … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Scottish Connection
