The Myths, Legends, and Lore of Ireland

by Blackwell, Amy Hackney

  In 1992, however, a case exploded that could not be ignored. A fourteen-year-old girl referred to as “X” by the media was raped by a family acquaintance and became pregnant. Her parents planned to take her to England for an abortion, but they wanted to bring back fetal tissue to use in the prosecution of their daughter’s assailant. When they asked the police about this, the police turned the issue over to the district attorney’s office, which declared that the girl could not leave the country specifically to receive an abortion. The parents sued for the right to take her abroad.

  The conflict created a national scandal. Although most Irish people opposed abortion in most situations, they generally supported the girl’s right to end a pregnancy that seemed so wrong. European Union officials complained that a free government did not have the right to inhibit its citizens’ travel in that way. Eventually, government officials allowed her to leave under the pretext that the girl was suicidal, thereby allowing the traditional exception concerning the life of the mother.

  The issue wasn’t over. In 1993, conservative leaders proposed a constitutional change that would have made it illegal for women to travel abroad for abortions. The referendum failed, but it’s interesting to note that 40 percent of voters supported the amendment. For the time being, the situation is much like it was before Case X, with thousands of women traveling to England for secret abortions.

  Divorce has been another political hotspot in recent years. The Catholic Church opposes divorce on the grounds that marriage is a lifelong sacrament. While the Church does allow annulments — an official declaration that the marriage never took place — the policy has been unwieldy in practice and does not resolve the tricky legal disputes that divorces create. The legal complications have been one of the main reasons why Ireland has opposed divorce; in a country where the family farm is paramount and the husband owns all property by default, the government has been reluctant to tackle the issue of community property.

  Over the last few decades, however, it became clear that Ireland had thousands of broken marriages, just like every other country in Europe.

  It seemed to many people that Ireland was dodging the problem by declaring that it didn’t exist. In 1986 the country held a referendum to make divorce legal, but it failed by a fairly substantial vote. In 1996, pressured by EU policies on divorce and property rights, Ireland held a second referendum, which passed by a tiny margin. Divorce is now legal, but there are still many people who view it as the wrong decision.

  96 { Women’s Rights

  One remarkable feature of modern Irish politics has been the advance of women to high offices. The seventh and eighth presidents of Ireland have been women. While this role has primarily been a figurehead office for most of its existence, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese have redefined the position into a platform of international significance.

  MARY ROBINSON

  Mary Robinson was born in Ballina, County Mayo, in 1944. She earned law degrees from Trinity College and Harvard University, and in 1969 she became Trinity College’s youngest law professor ever. She became involved in Irish politics early, representing the Labour Party in the Irish Upper House of Parliament from 1969 to 1989. In 1988 she and her husband, Nicholas, founded the Irish Centre for European Law.

  Robinson served as president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997. She pursued economic, political, and cultural ties with other nations, continuing Ireland’s tradition of active involvement in the European Union. But Robinson didn’t only seek to advance Ireland’s ties to its wealthy neighbors; she also used the post to advocate the rights of poor countries throughout the world. Citing Ireland’s experiences in the Great Famine, she argued for the responsibilities of industrialized nations to help developing nations.

  Robinson brought this sense of international responsibility to the United Nations, where she served as high commissioner for human rights from June 1997 to September 2002. Robinson used the relatively obscure position to take strong stances on human rights issues around the world. She traveled to dozens of nations during her term. Her condemnation of human rights abuses in China and Chechnya aroused defensive reactions from the Chinese and Russian leaders. She created more surprise by criticizing NATO bombing in Serbia and U.S. bombing campaigns in Afghanistan.

  Robinson has won the Fulbright Prize for International Understanding and the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize.

  MARY McALEESE

  Mary McAleese was born in 1951 to a Catholic family in Belfast. She became aware of Northern Ireland’s problems at an early age, when her father’s shop was fired on in sectarian violence. Her early career was similar in some ways to Mary Robinson’s; she earned a law degree at Queens University and became a law professor at Trinity College. McAleese has served on several legal committees in Ireland, and in 1987 she became pro-vice chancellor of Queens University, the first woman to hold that role. She has also been an active broadcaster with Radio Telefís Éireann.

  McAleese took office as the eighth president of Ireland in November 1997, the first person from Northern Ireland to serve in this role. “Building Bridges” has been the theme of her presidency — she has sought to promote social inclusion, equality, and reconciliation throughout Ireland. Many people hope that her inclusive philosophy will help build a stronger relationship between the North and the South.

  The face of Ireland is changing. The charming but patronizing images of the past — the simple farmer, the friendly drunk — have given way to the real faces of Seamus Heaney, U2’s Bono, and Mary Robinson. Europe’s perennially poor cousin has become the Celtic Tiger.

  97 { Family Life

  The Irish have used the strengths of their island — the fresh food and water, the tranquility, and the strong family connections — to create one of the most enjoyable lifestyles in the world.

  It’s difficult to make general statements about the family life of any country. People’s lives can be very different, depending on where they live or how much money they have. Even people living next door to each other can lead very different lives. That being said, there are a few traits that people have accepted as describing the traditional Irish family.

  The stereotypical Irish family is Roman Catholic. Catholic roots go very deep in Ireland — so deep that they were able to withstand hundreds of years of English opposition. Irish households have traditionally been full of Catholic art and objects, and most Irish children have been educated at Catholic schools. The influence of the Church has tended to make Ireland a conservative country; the government has generally sided with Church positions on issues like abortion, divorce, and contraception.

  The stereotypical Irish Catholic family is large, with many children close in age. Late marriage and abstinence have decreased family size in the 150 years since the Great Famine, but the twentieth century saw enough large Irish Catholic families to keep the image alive. Partially responsible for this phenomenon is the Catholic prohibition of contraception.

  The Irish have long been seen as a pastoral people with strong connections to their families and community. When most people worked in agriculture, their lives were very much tied to the land. They worked long hours, lived in the same houses that their parents had lived in, and rarely traveled more than 10 miles from home. This lifestyle offered few luxuries, but it fostered strong family and community networks.

  Economic modernization has caused many Irish people to move from the country to pursue jobs in the cities. This has resulted in a quantitative increase in the quality of life for most people, but also a disruption in the traditional community networks. Many young people relish the chance to escape from the farm or small town and earn money in the city, and they willingly cast off what they see as the shackles of religion.

  98 { Irish Food: Potatoes, Beef, and More Potatoes — and a Cuppa!

  The Irish family has traditionally gathered around the table, sharing the food it had in rich times and in poor. For the most part, it has been pretty decent fare. Ireland’s thriving agricultural ind
ustry provides high-quality meat, dairy products, and vegetables that go directly to local markets. The fresh and nutritious ingredients have allowed the Irish population to stay remarkably healthy, even in times of relative poverty.

  Irish food has never been known for its diversity. The traditional diet, consisting of meat, vegetables, and lots and lots of potatoes, has long been considered one of the blandest in Europe. What it lacks in flair, though, it makes up in heartiness. Some of Ireland’s substantial national and regional dishes include the following:

  Blaa (“blah”) — sausage rolls, from Waterford

  Coddle — boiled sausages and bacon with potatoes, from Dublin

  Colcannon — a casserole of potatoes, onions, and cabbage

  Crubeen — pig’s feet, from Cork

  Guinness stew — a stew made with mutton, potatoes, carrots, and Guinness beer

  Soda bread — a thick brown bread, tasty when fried

  The Irish tend to eat light lunches, so they take breakfast seriously. Visitors to Ireland are frequently amazed by the robust Irish breakfast. This is no dainty continental breakfast of a croissant and jam, but an extravaganza of meat and eggs that will keep you full all day. There is variation from place to place, but the Irish breakfast generally includes the following:

  Eggs (usually fried)

  White pudding (a lighter sausage)

  Sausages

  Fried tomatoes

  Bacon (sliced thick)

  Toast and jam

  Ham

  Tea

  Black pudding (a blood sausage)

  This combination is served in pubs and bed-and-breakfasts across the country. A similar variant, called an “Ulster Fry,” is served in the North. Observant visitors will notice that the Irish don’t actually eat like this every day; a bowl of cereal or some toast and tea are more common ways to start the day.

  It’s hard to overestimate the importance of tea in Irish culture. Tea is simultaneously a beverage, a medicine, and a social ritual. The Irish drink on average four cups of tea a day, amounting to 7 pounds of dried tea leaves over the course of a year — easily the highest rate of per-capita tea consumption in the world. No respectable household would be found without tea, and pubs are legally required to provide it. At breakfast, lunch, and teatime (approximately 4 P.M.), tea is the beverage of choice.

  The Anglo-Irish aristocracy introduced tea to Ireland in the nineteenth century. As an import from India, it was too expensive for most Irish people at first, but lower prices and generally improving economic conditions allowed more and more people to try this new taste sensation. Soon the whole nation was hooked. (They pronounced the name of their new drink “tay,” from the French pronunciation.)

  A cup of tea is often referred to as a “cuppa” — everyone knows what kind of cup you’re talking about. People throughout the country take a break in the mid-afternoon to enjoy a cup of tea and some light snacks such as cookies or finger sandwiches. The Irish drink tea with sugar and generous amounts of milk. Tea devotees extol the drink’s powers to aid digestion, cure headaches, and provide a gentle pick-me-up.

  The Irish tend to prefer stronger tea than the English — they have a saying that a good cup of tea should be “strong enough for a mouse to trot on.” They’ve gravitated toward East African suppliers, who provide more aromatic leaves. Irish tea was traditionally made using free leaves, but in recent decades consumers have grown more accepting of tea bags. The Irish maintain very high standards for their tea; consequently, the quality of tea in Ireland is generally much higher than in the United States.

  The Irish initially relied entirely on U.K. importers for their tea supply, which became a problem during World War II, when Ireland chose not to ally itself with the United Kingdom. Consequently, the government of Ireland set up Tea Importers (Éire), Ltd., a conglomeration of companies that imported tea directly from the producing countries.

  Irish tea consumption continued to increase in the postwar years. In 1973 Ireland had to disband Tea Importers because it violated antimonopoly statutes of the EU, so the business was taken up by the subsidiary companies that had made up the organization.

  99 { For the Love of Irish Beer and Whiskey

  Pubs play a very important role in Irish life. American visitors tend to assume that pubs are the same thing as bars, but this isn’t exactly true. Pubs do sell alcohol, but they also serve as restaurants, music stages, meeting places, and even as local cultural museums. Most pubs aren’t all these things simultaneously, but instead specialize in one area.

  One thing that often surprises visitors is the presence of children and families in Irish pubs. The drinking age in Ireland is eighteen, but it’s legal for children under that age to enter with their families. The families are there for the music or the food. Irish pub food — called “pub grub” — is generally inexpensive and hearty. While almost any pub can be expected to provide sandwiches or maybe a baked potato, some pubs have become famous for their food; The Reginald in Waterford, The Stag’s Head in Dublin, and Langton’s in Kilkenny are good places to visit for Irish culinary delights.

  Pubs are the places to go for traditional music, or “trad,” as the locals call it. Larger places might bring in professional bands, but the most common format is the session, in which local musicians come with what instruments they have and just get down to business. The musicians in a session are usually playing for beer only, so there generally isn’t a cover charge. The pubs in Doolin are famous for their trad.

  Ireland has one of the highest beer consumption rates in the world. The unique thing about Irish beer habits is that the most popular type of beer is stout, whereas all other European markets prefer lagers or ales. The most famous stout, of course, is Guinness.

  If you stop at a pub in Ireland and ask for a pint, the bartender will invariably bring you a Guinness. This unspoken understanding demonstrates the centrality of Guinness in Irish pub culture. Guinness stout is not only the national drink, it is also one of Ireland’s leading exports; in recent years Guinness has sold close to 2 billion pints of stout per year in more than 150 different countries.

  Arthur Guinness started the first Guinness brewery in 1759 with the help of a £100 inheritance from his godfather, the archbishop of Cashel. A man with vision, Guinness took out a 9,000-year lease on a run-down brewery on St. James Street in Dublin, right next to the Liffey River. This location was crucial, because it ensured a ready supply of pure Irish spring water. Guinness was a big fan of porter, as stout was called then, and he dedicated his new brewery to producing it. After some experimentation he found a taste that people loved, and the business has been growing ever since.

  Like all beers, Guinness is made from barley, hops, yeast, and water (originally from the St. James wells in County Kildare). Guinness’s distinctive flavor and dark color come from the practice of roasting the hops before brewing them. The beer isn’t black, as many people think, but actually a deep ruby color — you can see the true color by holding your pint up to the light.

  A proper pint of Guinness should have a thick head of foam on top. To get this right, the bartender pours the draft into the pint, lets it sit for three or four minutes, then tops it off for serving. Traditionally, Guinness stout was served at room temperature. (Irish room temperature can be pretty cool, so that doesn’t mean the beer was warm.) Some pubs in Ireland continue that practice. There used to be a big difference between the flavors of draft Guinness and bottled Guinness, but recent advances in packaging technology have produced cans that can pour a pint almost as good as you’d find in a pub in County Meath.

  With Guinness stout’s strong flavor and popularity, it was inevitable that people would think of innovative ways to serve it. There are now many mixed drinks involving Guinness. Here are some of the more popular variants:

  Black and Tan — Guinness and a lager or pale ale (traditionally Bass Ale)

  Black Velvet — Guinness and champagne

  Snakebite — Guinness and ciderr />
  Purple Meany — Guinness and a bitter

  Drop of Diesel — a shot of Guinness in a pint of Smithwicks ale

  The most popular pint, of course, is pure draught Guinness. There is considerable dispute in Ireland about where you can find the best pint. In Dublin, the two leading contenders are the St. James Gate Brewery and Mulligan’s, a nearby pub that, according to folklore, has a pipe connecting its basement to the brewery. Other Irish people claim that you’ll find the best pint in little pubs out in the country that serve their beer at room temperature and never clean the tap.

  Guinness gets the lion’s share of attention, but there are a number of other excellent Irish beers. Brewers in Cork make Murphy’s and Beamish, stouts that appear similar to Guinness but have distinctly different flavors. In Cork and the rest of Munster, these local brews are often more popular than Guinness stout. You can occasionally find Murphy’s in bars outside of Ireland.

  Smithwicks (“Smiddicks”) is the local brew in Kilkenny. Smithwicks is an amber ale with a slightly hoppy flavor. It’s served throughout Ireland. In continental Europe, you might find it under the name “Kilkenny.”

  There are a number of other beers that have recently come on the market to take advantage of the international enthusiasm for Irish beer. Harp is a lager brewed by Guinness. Murphy’s has started brewing an ale called Murphy’s Irish Red. With the proliferation of Irish pubs around the world, expect more Irish beers to appear in the near future.