Edythe Preet explores ancient traditions of fortune telling and explains how to see the future in a cup of tea. My Irish grandmother, Margaret McCaffrey, was a psychic. “Pooh! Not possible,” you say. Maybe, maybe not, but here’s the story. You be the judge. One fine May week when Dad was in first grade, his class was scheduled to have a picnic on an island in the middle of … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Trees, Tea and ESP
Food & Drink
Slainte! Alive, Alive-Oh!
Dublin's iconic Molly Malone statue Lately, I’ve been craving oysters, crab, and mussels. I could write it off to the fact that I keep seeing rafts of the succulent treats on shopping forays. Like many things I’ve written of, however, I’m sure the shellfish love affair that began in my childhood with clams, oysters, shrimp and crab, was my father’s doing. During summer … [Read more...] about Slainte! Alive, Alive-Oh!
Slainte! Ireland’s Viking Heritage
Edythe Preet looks at the legacy of the Vikings in Ireland, including influences that linger in Irish winter holiday celebrations. One day while searching for I can’t remember what in my foot-thick Webster’s, which has been my word go-to since high school, I stumbled upon a most interesting linguistic factoid. Every single question word in the English language (who, what, … [Read more...] about Slainte! Ireland’s Viking Heritage
Sláinte!: Feasting with the Angels
Pop quiz: what’s the most popular Irish boy’s name? Odds are, the first one that came to mind was Patrick. Wrong. While Saint Patrick is Ireland’s patron, his name comes in at #18. Go ahead, try again. Did you say Sean? If so, you picked #2, and you get extra credit because Sean is also spelled Shane, Shawn, Shuan, Eoin, Ion, and Ian, all of which rank in the top twenty and … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: Feasting with the Angels
Sláinte: The Bread of Life!
Many scholars contend that our prehistoric ancestors gave up their hunting-and-gathering lifestyle once they learned how to bake bread. Although there is evidence that barley was sown and harvested over 10,000 years ago, why seed was first planted remains a puzzle. In the 1950s, archaeologist Robert Braidwood at Chicago University suggested that discovering bread-making methods … [Read more...] about Sláinte: The Bread of Life!