Everyone Here Claims to Be Irish

McSorley’s Old Ale House in New York City

What I truly love about St. Patrick’s Day is the simplicity of the whole thing. Rise early, comb the closet for the suitable green couture, dust off last year’s plastic hat, and find your way to an Irish Pub. The demands are few, and the rewards are many. Unfortunately, on this fine March morning, we find ourselves where we were last year at this time–still unable to procure that coveted seat at the bar. The ongoing threat of COVID continues to hinder our revelries and our need to claim in mass on this particular day that we are all Irish!

While there may be a good reason to call into question some of the exuberant behavior of the felt shamrock crowd, I still support the idea of human beings coming together to celebrate the possibility that we are all the same–because whether we like it or not, we are all the same–Irish, French, German, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, true-believers, non-believers, black, white, brown, red, yellow, and yes even Republicans and Democrats. And after this brutal year of enduring a global pandemic along with the normal maladies that plague our kind, and for the sake of the children in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, and for those gathering at our southern border–I pray for more days where we come together to celebrate our common humanity!

Happy ST. Patrick’s Day!

To help you enjoy your in-home High Holy Day we invite you to listen to some great Celtic music by Dave McBride and the superb Irish band Runa at our free downloadable podcast site by clicking on Sit Downs and Sessions.

Posted by: Chris Poh for American Public House Review

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Ben’s raiding the cooler again!

As we close in on Independence Day, we all look forward to a holiday weekend full of all those fun and relaxing things that make summer great.  Hamburgers on the grill, a beer in the hand, and friends and family by your side are the things that make July 4th Weekend so enjoyable.

For me, I am heading to one of my absolute favorite places on earth, Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  There I plan to spend my 10 days of vacation visiting family, doing a bit of boating, and maybe I’ll even check out a tavern or two.  (Okay, maybe three or four…)  My plan on this vacation, like all my trips to Maine, is to sit.  I plan on sitting on a dock, a boat, an Adirondack chair, or hopefully on an array of well crafted barstools.  It’s time to decompress and as Otis Redding said, “watch the ships roll in and watch them roll away again.”

 

I can’t help but wonder what our Founding Fathers would think of how we choose to celebrate this most solemn of days.  Because of the resolution agreed on back on July 4th 1776, the men who signed it put their necks in the proverbial guillotine.  Years of war, disease, and god knows what else followed during the struggle of the Revolutionary War, and in many related respects the War of 1812 as well.  And in recognition of those events we choose to barbeque.   I don’t know what the founders who lived those struggles under the constant fear of being hung for treason might think of my hotdog and potato salad celebration, but I have a guess.  I think they would find it absolutely perfect! 

People complain America has become too lazy, too pampered.  How many times have you heard people question what the founding fathers would think of us now?  Well, I like to think on this weekend they would want us to celebrate by exercising the absolute freedom to do what makes us happy.  So while you pop open a bottle of whatever and sit under the stars waiting for the fireworks, think of what Erma Bombeck said…

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.

So as always, drink and party responsibly during this holiday weekend.  But do it knowing that you are not only enjoying yourself to the fullest, but you and your loved ones are also paying a sincere homage to those who literally put their necks on the line for this little barbeque.  Somehow I couldn’t see Benjamin Franklin lecturing us on the frivolity of our Independence Day tradition.  No, I see him raiding the cooler and waiting for the baseball game to start.

Posted by: Dave McBride

 

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Click  here to view past articles on America’s finest  colonial taverns.