My St. Patrick's Day Dinner in Kilkenny

Some years ago I was entertained to a delicious St.Patrick's Day Dinner by young friends living in an old farmhouse on the banks of the Nore near where it flows silently past the towering walls of Kilkenny Castle. I was visiting the South Eastern counties for the first time and had driven down from Dublin to stay a couple of days with Shaun and Airen and enjoy their warm Irish hospitality.

The day had been grey and chilly as my host Shaun took me to explore the imposing embattled castle with its then newly opened craft studios converted from the ancient castle stables. We watched gold and silversmiths hammering delicate celtic designs; a potter at her wheel, working on an elegant vase; and marvelled at the glories of Irish knitwear design displayed in a fashion designer's boutique. From the castle gates we had later wandered the narrow cobbled streets of this picturesque medieval city that the castle and its owners have dominated since they first came as conquering Normans in 1172.

We paused at midday to fortify ourselves with a simple lunch of crumbly brown bread, tangy Irish Farmhouse cheese and robust pickled onions which we washed down with a lipsmacking pint of Kilkenny Draught Bitter, a creamy local brew, at Widow MacGrath's, (now known as The Widow's), a friendly old pub near the ancient 13th century St. Canice's Cathedral. We had the pub and its landlord to ourselves then, but he assured us that Widow MacGrath shows a lively leg of an evening when the boys with fiddle and bodhran start to play.

We were wet and tired by the time we returned to Shawn's farmhouse late in the afternoon, but the welcome blaze of a log fire burning in the open hearth, and the St.Patrick's Day Pie that Shawn's wife Airen had prepared in our absence, returned the warmth to our bones and left me with a lasting and glowing memory of that St. Patrick's Day.

Airen served her pie with buttered and parsleyed carrots, whole roasted onions, and mashed potatoes. In honour of the Ireland's Patron Saint, (and Airen's Pie), we drank 'Black Diamond' with our meal from Mullingar pewter goblets. This is a heady mix of two thirds Guinness or Murphy's Stout and one third chilled sparkling dry white wine or Champagne. I had downed a glass or two of 'Black Diamond'in the past to pay tribute to a plate of freshly opened Oysters on my various travels. It certainly complemented the rich aromatic flavours of Airen's pie quite as perfectly.