By Jacquie Foote Well, another St. Patricks Day has passed,…
By Jacquie Foote Well, another St. Patricks Day has passed, having been well celebrated by us here in Geauga. There were services at Catholic churches,…
By Jacquie Foote
Well, another St. Patricks Day has passed, having been well celebrated by us here in Geauga. There were services at Catholic churches, including St. Patricks Church in Thompson … a parish started over 179 years ago to accommodate the Irish immigrants who settled in the area. And, people of Irish ancestry as well as people who are Irish for a Day celebrated together.
There was a great deal of corned beef and cabbage consumed as well as more than a little soda bread. Cakes and cookies sported green frosting and people found something green to wear.
Churches, organizations and even restaurants used the occasion to present their version of corned beef and cabbage. Traditional Irish beverages … beer, ale, stout or whiskey (called the Creature)… was enjoyed. All America became a little bit Irish to celebrate the Patron Saint of those of her citizens who came from the Old Sod.
Back in early Geauga, what was St. Patricks Day like?
Well … we know that George Washington authorized the first St. Patrick’s Day celebration in 1780. So, it would not be surprising if some of the early Geaugans had Irish roots. But it wasnt until the 1830s that Geauga saw a fairly large influx of new Americans from Ireland. Although in Ireland itself, St. Patricks Day was basically only a religious occasion, in America, newspapers of the time told of parades with fifes and drums and banquets at taverns.
Here, in the country atmosphere, there were few parades, but there were religious services, the wearing of the green and the consumption of traditional Irish foods and beverages. Back then, the food was likely to be truly traditional Irish dishes like toad in the hole (sausage in pastry), coddle (bacon, potatoes and other root vegetables) or colcannon (potatoes, cabbage, butter and onions).
There surely would be boxty (Irish version of potato pancakes). Boxty was such an important part of the Irish tradition that a little verse was made about it…Boxty on the griddle; Boxty on the pan; if you cant make Boxty, youll never get a man.
What about corned beef and cabbage? Well, this dish is an Irish-American dish, not an Irish dish. (The closest the Irish came to it was a dish called bacon and cabbage. You can make it today by simply substituting bacon for corned beef in your corned beef and cabbage recipe.) You see, the Irish in the 1700s and 1800s did not raise many cattle, but they did raise a lot of pigs and sheep. Thus, beef was rarely available and incredibly expensive, not something that an Irishman would readily have access. Pork and mutton were much more common.
When the Irish immigrated to the United States, they found that beef was more available and certainly more affordable, and corned beef (which gets its name from the large “kernels” of salt that cover it during its curing process) became an important part of the culture, as it took the place of bacon in the boiled meal. Corned beef gave the desired flavor without as much fat. Bacon and cabbage on the table in Ireland was transformed into coredn beef and cabbage in America.
For information on the events at the Geauga County Historical Society’s Century Village Museum, call 440-834-1492 or visit www.geaugahistorical.org.
