UpTake on Blarney Castle, Ireland

Top o’ the week everybody! March 17th is St. Patty’s Day, a day when everyone is Irish! Remember to wear something green so you don’t get pinched, and more importantly make sure you fill your belly with some corned beef and cabbage that was washed down with a pint of Guinness.

In my research of this holiday I was surprised to find out a few facts about St. Patrick:

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O' Hare Irish dancers perform at Irish American Heritage Center and Abbey Pub St. Pat 's Day events

Chicago boasts a huge and lively Irish American community that provides a host of St. Patrick’s Day activities to choose from. Of course, the official celebrations don’t begin until the traditional dying of the Chicago  River green (which is actually a murky green anyway) and the downtown St. Patrick’s day Parade. The South Side parade, which captured the essence of Chicago’s Irish American community for 31 years, has been cancelled but there are still loads of events on the South and North sides of the city to make you shout Erin Go Bragh! Read More »

The telltale shamrock

The place we always went to for St. Patrick’s Day was Molly Malone’s.  It’s a hole-in-the-wall bar on Fairfax on the West Side, the kind of place that packs people in much too close to one another on Saturday nights when the live bands play.  In my twenties, I found a listing in the L.A. Weekly for a band named “Toe,” and that was all it took.  Who would have the balls to name their band “Toe?”

Of course it was a bunch of drunk Irish dudes. My friends and I enjoyed the music, loved the divey feel of the bar, and swooned over the Irish accents of the staff.  We came back for St. Patrick’s Day when the celebration started at noon – even though it was a weekday, and people called in sick to work which they discovered it costlier than simply skipping class back when they were in college.  But it didn’t matter.  It was fun times.

The author, feeling her age

Now I’m almost in my forties.  I have two young children and much more responsibility.  I pine for the days when I could revel on St. Patrick’s Day at old Malone‘s.  Take one for the team, will ya?  If you’re in town for St. Patrick’s Day, quaff a cold one and kiss a stranger for me.  I’ll be in bed by nine.

[Shamrock photo from Slashfood.  Spinning wheel image c. 1895]

Charleston Fountain on St. Patrick's Day

Seeing billboards and ads this week promoting St. Patrick’s Day festivals has reminded me that yet another holiday is upon us. Although St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday, what makes it such a popular celebration in many U.S. cities? Is it the Irish influence in America? Maybe a historic fascination with what the holiday represents? Or possibly the celebration of the end of winter and the beginning of spring? And perhaps, for many, just another reason to party and drink beer?

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