Fantastic Irish Times supplement on the 1916 Rising

See here for the Irish Times special 90th-anniversary supplement on the 1916 rising.

Esther Finds

1. TRADITIONAL IRISH BACON AND CABBAGE
INGREDIENTS
1 Shannon Traditional Slab Bacon (11/4 - 2lb)
1/2 green cabbage and 1/2 white cabbage
8 potatoes (peeled)
Salt and pepper
METHOD:
Remove slab bacon from plastic bag. Cover with cold water. Bring to boil and drain. Cover with fresh cold water. Bring to boil and then simmer for 25 minutes per 1lb plus 25 minutes over. Remove outer leaves of cabbage. Cut in half, add to the saucepan and simmer for the last 20 minutes. Remove bacon to chopping board and carve into thin slices. Drain cabbage, season with salt & pepper, chop and add a knob of butter. Serve the bacon with the cabbage and boiled potatoes

This is a little poem that I found quite interesting because it emphasizes the misconception of most that corned beef and cabbage was a staple meal in Ireland. Anyway, it's amusing.

GOOD GRIEF - NOT BEEF!
I just want to put something straight
About what should be on your plate,
If it's corned beef you're makin'
You're sadly mistaken,
That isn't what Irishmen ate.

If you ever go over the pond
You'll find it's of bacon they're fond,
All crispy and fried,
With some cabbage beside,
And a big scoop of praties beyond.

Your average Pat was a peasant
Who could not afford beef or pheasant.
On the end of his fork
Was a bit of salt pork,
As a change from potatoes 'twas pleasant.

This custom the Yanks have invented,
Is an error they've never repented,
But bacon's the stuffThat all Irishmen scoff,
With fried cabbage it is supplemented.

So please get it right this St. Paddy's.
Don't feed this old beef to your daddies.
It may be much flasher,
But a simple old rasher,
Is what you should eat with your tatties.
©Frances Shilliday 2004

Ceol agus Rince na hEireann
Music and Dance from Ireland
I am not sure when this stamp was made, but I really loved the depiction of the Irish bagpipes and the man playing them. One can sort of tell that he's not posed for the image. He is just playing or getting ready to; it's all happening in the moment.


"Out on the mountain" by Charles McAuley



Petroglyph paintings from Newgrange
"Newgrange is one of the oldest buildings in Europe, dating to about 3200 bc. Located on a ridge at a bend in the river Boyne, it has commanding views and can be seen from some distance."
"Many of the kerbstones and interior walls are covered with carvings.

Some of these can be clearly interpreted as calendar descriptions and indications of the alignment when the light enters the passage."
-Picture and text from www.onlymp.com/gallery/ petro/ireland/newgrange/



An Rógaire DubhTá mo stoca is mo bhróga ag an rógaire dubh, x3
Mo naipicín póca le bliain sa lá inniu.
PortaireachtTá nead insa sliabh ag an rógaire dubh, x3
Ní ghabhfaidh sé an bóthar ach cóngar an chnoic.
Dá bhfeicteása Máire taobh eile den tsruth, x3
Is a dhá chois in airde ag an rógaire dubh!

The black rogue has taken my socks and shoes x3
And my pocket handkerchief, a year ago today.
The black rogue has a nest in the mountain x3
He won't travel by road, but takes the shorcut over the hill.
If you were to see Máire on the far side of the stream x 3
And the black rogue's two legs high up in the air!

This just goes to show how current conflict still is in Ireland...

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001/20060404/1932833002.htm&floc=NW_1-T


DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland (AP) -- A former Sinn Fein official recently exposed as a British spy was found fatally shot Tuesday after apparently being tortured, police said -- an act certain to send shock waves through Northern Ireland's peace process at a critical moment.

Denis Donaldson, Sinn Fein's former legislative chief in the failed power-sharing government of Northern Ireland, admitted in December he had been on the payroll of the British secret service and the province's anti-terrorist police for the previous two decades. He then went into hiding -- because the traditional Irish Republican Army punishment for informing is death.

Irish Justice Minister Michael McDowell said Donaldson, 55, had been tortured before being killed -- apparently with one or two shotgun blasts to his head -- inside his isolated home near Glenties, County Donegal, in northwest Ireland.

"His right forearm is almost severed," McDowell said. "He was shot in the head and mutilation was done to his body. It's a murder we're dealing with."

The IRA quickly denied responsibility. "The IRA had no involvement whatsoever in the death of Denis Donaldson," the outlawed group's one-line statement read.

Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party, said he did not know who was responsible, but suggested it might have been the work of IRA dissidents opposed to Sinn Fein's diplomatic efforts.

"It is likely that his death at this time is intended to undermine current efforts to make political progress," Adams said. "Those who carried out this murder are clearly opposed to the peace process."

But Ian Paisley, whose Democratic Unionist Party represents most of Northern Ireland's British Protestant majority and refuses to cooperate with Sinn Fein, said someone within IRA ranks was the most likely culprit. "There is a finger pointing tonight at IRA-Sinn Fein," he said.
The killing comes at a pivotal moment in Northern Ireland's 13-year-old peace process.
On Thursday, the prime ministers of Britain and Ireland, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, are to reveal a new blueprint for reviving a Protestant-Catholic administration that would be jointly led by the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein. The plan would call for Northern Ireland's legislature to reconvene in mid-May and face a November 24 deadline to elect an administration.

Donaldson's killing appeared certain to harden Protestant opinion against Sinn Fein, but officials in both governments said Thursday's announcement would go ahead anyway.
In a statement from his Downing Street office, Blair said he "strongly condemned" the killing and noted that Sinn Fein had disassociated "pro-peace process" republicans from the crime.
Northern Ireland's previous power-sharing coalition fell apart in October 2002 because of an IRA spying scandal involving Donaldson.

Donaldson and two others were charged with pilfering documents that identified potential targets of the IRA. Protestants accused the IRA of plotting a potential resumption of its violent campaign to oust Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom.

But British prosecutors mysteriously dropped all charges in early December. Adams initially defended Donaldson as an innocent man, then announced that Donaldson had confessed to being a paid British spy. Within hours, Donaldson admitted this in a television interview.
The IRA last year declared it was renouncing violence for political purposes and backed the pledge by handing over its weapons stockpiles -- moves supposed to spur a revival of power-sharing involving Sinn Fein.

But Paisley has refused to cooperate with Sinn Fein, citing IRA refusal to disband and its alleged involvement in criminal activities.

During its 27-year campaign, the IRA's internal security unit tortured scores of IRA members suspected of passing information to British intelligence. Typical IRA methods included applying electric shocks, and administering cigarette burns. Those who admitted informing had their confessions audiotaped before being shot in the head; their bodies were usually dumped -- naked and with hands tied behind their backs -- on rural roadsides.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

corey finds

the fair-haired priest:
curfá:
Má bhíonn tú liom, bí liom os comhair lán an tí
Má bhíonn tú liom, bí liom de ló geal is oidhche
Má bhíonn tú liom, bí liom gach ordlach de do chroidhe
'Sé mo lean le fonn, nach liom Dé Domhnaigh thú mar mhnaoi

Dhá mbéadh spré ag an gcat nach deas mar a phógfaí a bhéal
Mura mbeadh nach fada ó bhaile a sheolfaí é
Tá iníon na caillighe gioblaighe casta pósta ó aréir
'S tá mo chailín ag baile 's gan duine aici a phógfadh a béal

'S cén cat mara a chas in san áit seo mé?
Nach iomaigh cailín a d'fhága mé i mo dhiaidh
Mar gheall ar throid 's ar bhruíon 's ar rud éicint nárbh fhíor
Muise, óinseach cailligh, 's iníon aici a bhí gan chiall

'S chuirfinn, threabhfainn, 's chraithfinn an síol go domhain sa gcré
'S sheolfainn na beithígh sna páirceanna 's airde a fhásann féar,
Chuirfinn crúidhthe ar an each ba dheise 's ba lúfaire a shiubhail riamh féar,
Ach d'éalochadh bean le fear nach ndéanfadh é sin féin.

If you're with me, be with me in front of all the people in the house
If you're with me, be with me all day and all night
If you're with me, be with me every inch of your heart
I's my great sadness that you aren't mine on Sunday as my wife

If the cat had a dowry, how nicely his mouth would be kissed
And if he didn't, it's a long way from home he'd be driven
The twisted, wretched witch's daughter is married since last night
And my girl's at home with no one to kiss her mouth

And what dead cat (misfortune) that directed me to this place?
There's many a girl in the village that I left behind
Because of a fight and a quarrel and something that wasn't even true
Musha, a silly hag and her daughter that had no sense

I'd plough and plant the seed deep in the soil
And I'd drive the cows to the fields where the tallest grass grows
I'd shoe a horse that was the nicest and fastest ever
And a woman would elope with a man who wouldn't even do that


and the pictures i chose for the "3 pics of Galway, Sligo, and Clare" category were ones that we took on our last trip. just fyi.

this is the "fake ruin" at the point at the cliffs of moher in clare.



then a photo of Sligo Abbey in Sligo City, County Sligo. you can't see it in this picture, but the doorways are all really, *really* short, even for the time, because they turned the ruined abbey into the city graveyard and then built up the soil when they ran out of room. neat, huh?

this last is a picture of a "good irish road" about a ten-minute walk from Galway Bay.





LOUGH ERNE by Dick Gaughan:

I am a rambling Irishman
In Ulster I was born in
And many's the happy hour I spent
By the banks of sweet Lough Erne
For to live poor I could not endure
Like others of my station
To America I sailed away
And left this Irish nation

The night before we went on board
I spent it with my darling
For four o'clock in the afternoon
Till the break of day next morning
But when that we were going to part
We fell in each other's arms
And you may be sure and very sure
That it wounded both our charms

But the first night that we spent on board
I deamed about my Nancy
I dreamed I held her in my arms
And well she pleased my fancy
But when I woke out of my dreams
And I found my bosom empty
Well you may be sure and very sure
That I lay discontented

And when we arrived on the other side
We were both stout and healthy
We cast our anchor in the bay
Going down to Philadelphia
Let every lad link with his lass
Blue jacket and white trousers
And let every lass link with her lad
Blue petticoat and white flounces

Michelle Finds...

Traditional Recipe

Boxdy (Potato Griddle Cakes) Servings: 8
1/2 lb Raw potato 1/2 lb Mashed potato 1/2 lb Plain flour Milk 1 Egg Salt and pepper
Grate raw potatoes and mix with the cooked mashed potatoes. Add salt, pepper and flour. Beat egg and add to mixture with just enough milk to make a batter that will drop from a spoon. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a hot griddle or frying pan. Cook over a moderate heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve with a tart apple sauce: or as part of an Ulster Fry, with fried bacon, fried sausage, fried eggs, fried black pudding, fried bread, fried soda bread.
I also thought that this was an interesting little poem. :-)

An old poem says:
Boxty on the griddle,
boxty in the pan,
if you can't make boxty,
you'll never get a man.

Pictures of Traditional Irish Foods

Irish Stew


Ulster Fry

Champ

Irish Song in English with a place reference

THE CLIFFS OF DONEEN

You may travel far far from your own native land
Far away o'er the mountains, far away o'er the foam
But of all the fine places that I've ever been
Sure there's none can compare with the cliffs of Doneen
Take a view o'er the mountains, fine sights you'll see there
You'll see the high rocky mountains o'er the west coast of Clare
Oh the town of Kilkee and Kilrush can be seen
From the high rocky slopes round the cliffs of Doneen
It's a nice place to be on a fine summer's day
Watching all the wild flowers that ne'er do decay
Oh the hares and lofty pheasants are plain to be seen
Making homes for their young round the cliffs of Doneen
Fare thee well to Doneen, fare thee well for a while
And to all the kind people I'm leaving behind
To the streams and the meadows where late I have been
And the high rocky slopes round the cliffs of Doneen

Images of Counties

Sligo

Carran church ruins, county Clare


Galway

Bribe. :)

Does anyone have a recording (or know how to get one from somewhere that isn't iTunes) of "Two Gentlemen of the Road" with Jimmy MacBeath and Davie Stewart? I'm mostly interested in a track called "The Story Lives Forever" but iTunes wont let me buy it without buying the whole album. I will love you forever, be your best friend, and make you cookies!