How to be Irish for St. Patrick’s Day
Now, you may think that being Irish is just drinking green beer and listening to bagpipe music, and maybe falling down a time or two, but, take it from me;there's a lot more to it than that. As I do each year, it's time for me to tech you a little about the dynamics of being Irish for a day.
Let's take this in order of importance:
What to Drink - The choices are pretty varied when it comes to drink, but since you want to do this right, I'm going to restrict it to the very best. When it comes to whisky, take the high road and go for Jameson or Bushmill's. Both excellent Irish Whiskies. You can mix the whiskey with a mixer if you must, but it's better by itself. Ginger Ale mixes great with both.
When it comes to beer, the top choices are Guinness, of course, and Harp. You can combine the two by simply ordering a "Black and Tan" which is just basically beer and whiskey mixed together.
What to Eat - Food is not as big a part of St. Patrick's day as drink is, but it ranks way up there. Nothing beats Irish stew or Shepherd's Pie for a St. Patrick's Day meal, but just plain old cabbage is nice too. Having said that, you can't go wrong with anything made with potatoes.
Some Irish Words - If you're going to really get into St. Patrick's Day and do it right, you'll need to sprinkle in a few words of Gaelic to spice things up, so here are just a few Irish words and sentences:
Banjaxed - All messed up or severely damaged. "I think me car is banjaxed since I ran over that speed bump,"
A Pint of the Black Stuff - That's the correct way to order a Guinness
Bogtrotter - A redneck - "And that, my bogtrotter friend is what we call a toothbrush."
Gee-Eyed - Basically, it just means "drunk" the idea is to get as gee-eyed as possible.
And finally the ever popular "Craic"- Craic (crack) just means fun.
Music - If there's anything more important than "what to drink" on St. Paddy's Day, it's music. Now, the world of Irish and Gaelic music gets pretty complicated, but there are several songs one must at least hear, if not sing, to make the St. Paddy's Day complete. Here are a few:
Star of the Country Down
Black Velvet Band
I'll Tell Me Ma
and, of course, the ever popular, "Whiskey in the Jar"