Today's author spotlight: R. L. Cherry
St. Patrick’s Day, Green Beer and Blue Mead
St. by R. L. CherrySt. Patrick’s Day, originally a feast day of the Catholic church, has become a major American drunken celebration. Before I get into the down and dirty, let me assure you that St. Patrick never drank green beer. In fact, drinkers in ancient Ireland had a choice of ale (no hops) or mead (honey based), unless they wanted to pony up for imported wine. So beer is obviously not an ancient Irish tradition. How about the color green? Is it Irish because Ireland is called the Emerald Isle? This is a question that is still up for debate.
First raised in 1919, theIrish flaghas three wide, vertical stripes. In reverse order, one is orange, one is white and one is green. This flag was designed in an attempt to join the Catholic and Protestant factions as a united Ireland.
It is easy to explain why the orange stripe represents the Protestants. The Protestant William of Orange (William III of England) defeated the last Catholic king of England, James II, at the Battle of Boyne in Ireland on July 1, 1690. The militant Orange Order of Irish Protestants take their name from the king who originally came from the Dutch principality of Orange and celebrate (mistakenly) this victory on July 12 each year. Since William’s victory led to the horribly punitive laws against the Catholics, this “celebration” is strictly for militant Protestants. Okay, how about the white stripe? If you were sitting in between two groups who had a history of fighting each other, what flag would you raise? It is generally accepted that the white is meant to be a flag of truce between the warring factions.
When your friends ask if you want a green beer, say, “Heck, no. I want a blue mead. After all, that’s a real Irish drink.”
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
R. L. Cherry is the author of Christmas Cracker. What begins as a vacation for private investigator Morg Mahoney soon becomes a murder mystery laced with threads of local history, race horses, the IRA, family secrets, a touch of romance and, of course, pure greed.More...
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