St. Paddy's Day

The health of the salmon to you,
a long life, a full heart
and a wet mouth.
Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

Saint Patrick and the Bull

>From the book: Saint Patrick - A Visual Celebration
By Elaine Gill & Dennis O'Neill
Illustrated by Courtney Davis

After St. Patrick's exertions and success in ridding Ireland of its population of serpents and chasing them into Log na Deamhan, he and his disciples were ravenously hungry and their appetites very sharp. They asked Crom Dubh for the gift of a bullock to feed themselves, but instead he offered them the prize of a ferocious bull. The animal was so savage that it would reputedly kill whoever approached it.

However, at Patrick's bidding it became docile and laid its head on the chopping block, offering itself for slaughter so that its meat mighty feed the saint and his followers. After giving thanks, they killed and skinned the beast, and, with great enjoyment, ate their fill until they were satisfied.

After some time, Crom Dubh requested the return of the bull, so Patrick instructed his men to gather all the bones together in one place and to put the hid of the beast on top, so that the bones were covered. St. Patrick prayed over them and the bull came to life again, more bellicose than ever!

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig, agat! (Blessings of the Feast of St. Patrick to you!)

************************************

If you're thinking about going to Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales, don't make any plans until you check first with us here at Celtic Rainbow Gifts. I will be meeting with a travel agency rep next week to finalize the tour package. I will fill you in with all the facts within the next two weeks. We've got some great trips planned.
On the Celtic Corner Halloween section of my web site: http://www.CelticRainbowGifts.com I gave out a recipe for Colcannon - except I forgot to add the 5-6 medium potatoes to the ingredients list. I've made this recipe before and it's wonderful. The following recipe is from my mother-in-law which I think you'll enjoy. The recipe calls for sour cream instead of buttermilk.

Irish Soda Bread - from Margaret Keady

2 ½ cups of sifted flour
½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (floured)
1 cup sour cream
½ cup milk
2 tsp. caraway seeds

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut up butter and crumble in with fork. Beat egg, sour cream and milk together in a separate bowl then fold into the dry ingredients mixture. Add floured raisins and caraway seeds. Mix well. Bake in greased loaf pan in a 375 degree oven 45-50 minutes.

Other bits of Irish news - St. Patrick's Day celebrations have already started in Dublin with spectacular fireworks display over the River Liffey last Saturday night. Virtually every town and village in the Ireland will be having a parade to honor their great patron saint. It's also an Irish tradition to send their Government Ministers to Irish communities around the world to celebrate the National Feast Day. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will be in Washington to meet with President Bush on the day itself.

Singer/Songwriter Sinead O'Connor gave birth to boy last Wednesday in a Dublin hospital. The baby, named Shane, is her third child.

Waterford will be the host port for next year's Tall Ships Race starting in July 2005.

Slainte,
Linda Keady
Celtic Rainbow Gifts
Bar Harbor, Maine