Éirinn go Brách ~~~ It's Saint Patrick's Day!

Hello Friends ~~~ today is Saint Patrick's Day. Top o'the Mornin' to you and Éirinn go Brách ~~~

A Wish for a Friend

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers—

Miles and miles of Irish smiles

For golden happy hours—

Shamrocks at your doorway

For luck and laughter too,

And a host of friends that never ends

Each day your whole life through!

Here is the O'Brien coat of arms that my father brought back from a holiday in Ireland, and which hangs proudly on the back of my Irish oak front door ~~~

~~~ or is that a Welsh oak door, as you may read here, thus adding further mystery to my mixed Welsh~Irish roots!

The O'Brien clan motto is Lamh Laidir an Uachtar – "The Strong Hand from Above" and it is said that we are all descended from the Irish King Brian Boru. {see, I knew it all along ~~~ I am a princess!}

There is, as you might expect, much legend born of the mists of time about Saint Patrick, so I will share one of our Welsh legends ~ that Patrick was a Welshman, a contemporary and friend of our very own Welsh patron saint, David, and as many scholars believe, born in Pembrokeshire in Wales. I will leave it for you to decide, but here are a couple of links for you to read at your leisure~~~

St Patrick a Welshman
The most celebrated Welshman in America

Here is my Flickr album of the Shrine of David, Restored which shows the procession and ceremony of the unveiling of the restored Shrine of David. I am proud to say I was one of the five hundred guests at the ceremony. Patrick is depicted, on David's left hand side, on the recently restored Shrine of David at St. David's Cathedral, and local legend says that Patrick left Welsh shores for his ministry in Ireland from either Porthclais Harbour or Whitesands Beach. {one of the two hundred stars in the canopy is dedicated to my late father}

In the meantime, while we do not have the big parades in Wales, or drink green beer {although a glass or two of Guinness will never go amiss} I will be giving a nod to my Irish heritage by baking Irish Soda Bread and serving it, spread thickly with lashings of butter, alongside a dish of my vegetarian interpretation of Colcannon.  As a vegetarian, corned beef is not on any of my menus!

Here is a picture of some Irish Soda Bread I made earlier

Here is the recipe for Irish Soda Bread  that I use. It is a Delia Smith recipe.

My interpretation of Colcannon is simple. I will, in my heavy cast iron pan, fry off in butter and oil some floury potatoes {unpeeled, cut into one inch chunks} with some thickly sliced onions. When those are nearly cooked and all golden and caramelised, I will add some thinly sliced cabbage and lightly toss around until the cabbage is wilted. Simple, and very tasty!

However you celebrate, I wish you all a 

Very 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day