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A Granite State Saint Patrick's Day

© Christina Coruth

A giant shamrock has been painted on Elm Street in Manchester and one of the city’s best Italian Restaurants, Angelos, is billing itself as Irish Italian. Sounds like my favorite time of year, Saint Patricks Day, is here.

New Hampshire has many Irish Americans residents, including me, as well as folks who enjoy being Irish for a day. In a state with towns named Dublin, Antrim, Derry, and Londonderry it’s not surprising to find celebrations going on all over the Granite State. Therefore, I decided to take a quick peek at some of the celebrations and share a bit of my St. Patricks Day.

The giant shamrock I mentioned in the opening, marks the starting point of the fifth annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade which will take place on March 26. Floats and pipe bands will march down Elm Street as an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 St. Paddy’s Day revelers line the streets.

Politicians hurl insults and blarney at each other at the Wild Irish Breakfast in Nashua, an Irish roast attended by national, state and local politicians to raise money for charity. Last year Governor Shaheen and then presidential candidate Steve Forbes proved to be the class cut ups. The event, now in its ninth year, was the creation of Bernard Streeter, who is a member of the Governor’s council and mayor of Nashua.

Irish music resounds across the state at this time of year. Pubs and restaurants offer a wide variety of Irish music. There are two headliners in the concerts this year. Altan, the world famous IrishTraditional band from Donegal will make four appearances in the state. Tommy Makem, the “Bard of Armagh,” who moved from Ireland to New Hampshire in the 1950s, has a March 17th appearance at the Dana Center in Manchester to benefit the Child Health Service. Tommy Makem, along with Liam Clancy are credited with making Irish Folk music popular in the United States. Their humor, poetry, stories, and ballads breathed life into the American Folk Music scene. Though they are not a team any more, each continues to enthrall audiences around the world.

My personal St. Patricks day won’t include attending a concert. However, it will include plenty of music emanating from my stereo. My favorites -- Makem and Clancy -- of course!

Now to the matter of that traditional Irish American dinner of boiled corned beef and cabbage. It is more properly called a New England Boiled Dinner. There are many variations of the dinner, but the original dinner is as frugal as the colonial settlers who concocted it. The ingredient list lacks spices and spirits. It’s the perfect meal for the cook who lacks culinary skills.

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