BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Irish Culture Gathering round the hearth...

A warm hearth is a great comfort and a gathering place for family, friends, neighbors, and travelers, the heart of Irish hospitality. Welcome to Irish Culture, come often and stay long.

Come in 'round the peat fire, sit down, and rest yourself. What's on your mind today? Do you have a joy or a question or a worry? A memory to share, stories to tell? Post them here.

Our forebears love to be remembered---as will we---and they stay most alive when we talk about them, when we share memories of them. It eases our own passing through this mortal coil to remember those who went before us. Feel free to talk about your people, their lives and loves, their stories, idiosyncracies, and even, God forbid, their mistakes. The best stories live in families, and who knows who we'll meet on the road if our eyes are open?

I'll be tending this hearth in Meenacross, at the crossroads overlooking the bay---making tea, baking scones, making butter and jam, washing spuds, tending hens, milking, midwifing, and putting the ashes in the garden. I love the company and look forward to meeting you all.

Let us all keep the hearth fires burning with good cheer and good stories, and the wisdom of the generations.

Gr�,

Good morning to you all!

I've just posted an article on one of our family favorites, brown bread.

Irish Brown Bread

Healthful and delicious, it is appreciated by both family and guests. I love to serve it to people who haven't tasted it before. There's a look that comes over them...

Mary, that scent of brown bread baking is so familiar to me - charming article was a pleasure to read!

Puts me in mind of my John McGahern book article - I will go look for it.

I will be baking some Odlum's bread!

Hi Mary, and thanks for the invite! What a great place to gather for stories and such. I brought some sweet cream butter for that bread that is baking.

How do you make your scones? I love homemade scones with butter and jam and a good mug of tea!

Hi,



Thank you.

I'll have a good source for the Irish baking products in a couple of days; I'm almost out of whole meal flour myself.

I had a slice of brown bread with melted cheddar on it today. I haven't been hungry at all since. (At least not until I started thinking about it now!

My Dad would have called a pan of Irish Soda Bread a scone, and the O would have been pronounced very long. O like O'Donnell rather than o in on.

But! Here a scone is an individual bread, a smaller, lighter version of my Dad's feast. A little cream, a little sugar, some raisins, Craisins, maybe even some candied peel. They're always great.

I'll work up the recipe and post it soon.

Thanks for the butter! Here's your tea.

Oh! I also brought a little peat log for your hearth.

May your cottage be filled with laughter and may it ring from floor to rafter.

Ah, thanks for the turf! There's no perfume to match it.

Laughter, yes---and music too! We're "mad for trad" around here, and listen to all kinds of Irish music. Planxty is a favorite, as is the great uilleann piper, David Power.

There's always room for dancing in the kitchen.

Lovely day at the crossroads. In Ireland, spring flowers come up a full two weeks ahead of NYC. The "rocky road to Dublin" is lined with a profusion of daffodils. Pansies are popular as well. They love the Irish climate.

Be well, my friend.

It's funny, the other day, I was reading a bit John (himself) had written:

Baltimore - Baile an T� Mh�ir - Townland of the big house. There are a few places in America that have Irish language place-names. There is a Baltimore in west Cork, but the Irish for that Baltimore is D�n na S�ad. However, there is another Baltimore, in County Longford and it is called Baile an T� Mh�ir in Irish.

The Baltimore in Maryland is named after Cecilius Carver, the second Baron Baltimore who was a member of the Irish House of Lords and later became the founding proprietor of the Maryland Colony. (His father George, the 1st Baron Baltimore was to get the proprietorship but died shortly before he was able to receive it.

So, there's more to Baltimore than meets the ear. My dad used to get happy when we drove through Baltimore, and he'd see O'Donnell Street.

I always thought Bayonne must be an Irish word because there were so many Irish-born people (and then their families) living there, and the name sounds so good with a brogue. It was only recently that I came across Bayonne on a map of France.<G> Ah well.

Does anybody have a favorite Irish place name that has been "transplanted" elsewhere, like Dublin, Ohio?

I love the Irish pubs around Nevada. One is called "Filthy McNasty's Irish Bar"

Others are:

Corrigan's Bit O'Ireland
Foley's Irish Pub
Napper Tandy's Irish Pub
Paddy and Irene's Irish Pub
Shea's Tavern

Interesting that you named the pubs. Today when I was thinking about this gathering place and I wondered why I hadn't offered anyone a pint.

There's that old perception that the Irish are all drunks. I'm particularly sensitive to this, having grown up in a house where there was (meant to be) no drink taken. My parents had both "taken the Pledge" when they were young and remained lifelong abstainers.

But that's not the way it is here at The Crossroads. There are celebrations that call for a pint, and some that call for a jar, but there's always a cup of tea.

But if Dad's around, would you ever just put that glass behind the plant!

We have Patrick O'Sullivan's that has been here for over a hundred years. Legend has it that Jesse James killed a man in Patrick's when he was passing thru the Smoky Mountains. We also have a fine pub, The Crown and Goose as well as The Irish Times pub. Here, I brought some marmalade to go with the bread

I love Irish Pubs, mainly for the food and the atmosphere. I am not a drinker, but, thought you would like to hear some of the Irish names here in my local area. I think the Irish and Irish customs are very well loved here in America.

My grandmother would have said, "Och, the poor, wee creatures," if she had read the story that hit so hard when I read it. Luckily, my DH saw it first, and warned me that it was coming.

BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Mary, your link did not come out. If you post the site name, I can find it for you and post the link. Or - check with your trainer.

Marmalade? Is it orange marmalade? I love that on scones! I made a stove top pan scone this morning for breakfast, with dried cranberries, raisins and walnuts. The marmalade would have been wonderful with it.

Blessed Solstice, dear Sisters!

I couldn't go off to bed without wishing you all the best on this longest day of the year. I feel that today, at least, everything can be finished. This day should be long enough that at the end of it we can finally close our eyes and rest and say "finis."

At least until tomorrow; but tonight, sleep peacefully.

Is the Summer Solstice the cosmic "hump day?"

Do you have the sense that your whole world is changing and you're yearning for the simpler ways and the rhythms of nature?

Me too.

The man of the hour---Happy St. Dad's Day to all of ye!--- the lad, and I divvied up a load perennials and made magic in the garden. Be still my heart. I am in heaven. There was even a bit of sun for the first time in ages. I testify to the power of "Off" against the vicious mosquitoes produced by a month of typical Irish weather here on the Jersey Shore.

I don't like to use poisons; my hands are too often in and out of aquaria, plants, and cooking, let alone my own precious breath, but there are squadrons of blood-suckers out there, and the garden waits for no sissies.

We planted a nice container with thyme, oregano, and rosemary with an orange gerber daisy smack in the middle.

It was a great day.

I'm working and the Lighthouse tomorrow. I'll have to tell you all about it. It's the Navesink Twin Lights, and that's where Marconi did his first radio transmissions. Guess where he called first? Ireland! Truth.

Good night, God bless.

Mmm, thank you for the marmalade. It's a perfect pairing with soda and brown breads...and even English muffins.

That's funny, one of my neighbors has a big jail cell door that her father gave her. It is said to be the cell door of Jesse James.

If I'm ever in the Smokies, we'll raise a pint at the Crown and Goose!

Oh Mary,

I just read this thread and your mention of the Navesink and Bayonne made me sooo homesick!

I was born and raised in Paterson, raised my kids in Sussex County, and for the past 10 years I've been transplanted in Missouri. I keep telling my DH (a MO native) that there isn't anything wrong with Missouri that having an ocean wouldn't fix!

Thanks for reminding me of the Jersey shore and all my wonderful memories of home.

Jesse James! He was a distant cousin of my maternal Grandmother. RIP, Jesse.

I'm not Irish but I am passionate about Ireland. I love it because the people seem to be rooted in the culture and tradition of the past...I think it's also a place where legends and myths still abound.

I think everyone loves the Irish myths and legends. My father used to talk to the Leprechauns. There are faeries, wee folk, and all kinds of mythical characters throughout the green hills of Ireland. They have been there from the beginning and still roam the green hills and glades.

Hello Helen,

Hang on a second, dear, I have some photos of the Joisey Shore (exit 109) to convince your "Show Me" guy that there's more to Jersey than a comedian's sarcasm. I thank God every day for those self-same comedians, though, because it keeps (most) of the riff-raff out...that and the prices lately.

When my parents dropped down the shore via the Port of New York, they saw it as unspoiled, which it was, at the time. Living on the shore took the heartscald out of being 3000 miles from "home." Often I saw my father squint into the horizon, and not only did I know what he was thinking, but I could see what he could see: my grandmother and her hens...and all of our family. There's a flash in "Dancing at Lughnasa" (Meryl Streep) that transports me to that place and time; it's when the hen in the yard is catching drops of water from a faucet. Enough!

I will post some photos that even a Buckeye would find pretty nice. Keep the faith, Helen. It's still here, and still the Garden State!

Hi Mary,

3 years ago my daughter and I went back to Jersey for a week, to visit our memories. Of course, one of them was Seaside Heights. I took a bunch of pictures to show the nonbelievers here what beautiful beaches New Jersey has.

Once you spend time out here in the "heartland" you find out what a totally undeserved bad reputation NJ has. But, I'm preaching to the choir here, I'm looking forward to your photos.

New Jersey snow.

Are ye home, Mary? I brought ye a c�ste milis. Got caife?

Sweet cake and coffee, yum. Yes, I'm home. A quiet cuppa and a bit of cake would be very nice.

It's been a wild day. My two dogs were very upset by a lot of people outside the house today. Then my friend came in with her little dog. They all know each other well, but one of mine is a young male, rescued at Christmas. I guess he started it, but my friend's dog got me good, and I'm missing a few inches of skin on my forearm. (I will never tell her it was her baby, as it could just as well have been one of mine. It was a true accident.) Then earlier in the day, I had the young dog out. I tied him to a tree with a rope while I did some gardening. Of course the rope was wrapped around my ankle when he went off after a squirrel. Rope burn is ow.

Would you have some of this potato leek soup I made? It really hit the spot after all the excitement.

I love potato leek soup, Mary.

Hope you are doing better now. what a day you had!