Plenty to say, over the years, about St. Patrick's Day

It's St. Patrick's Day, and I'll be observing it, if not actually going out and doing any celebrating.

As I do throughout the year, but especially come March, I'll be listening to Irish music. 

During our first snowstorm, I usually re-read "The Dead," the most brilliant of James Joyce's stories. This winter's been pretty much a no-show when it comes to snow, so I haven't yet sat down with a cup of Barry's tea and The Dubliners. I'll probably do so this afternoon.

When I sit down with my cupán tae, I'll also be enjoying a slice of soda bread (Aunt Margaret's brilliant recipe) and/or a piece of barmbrack (my mother's recipe, likely by way of my Irish grandmother, who likely got it from her immigrant mother or immigrant mother-in-law).

Irish identity has been central to my life, and I've had plenty to say about St. Patrick's Day over the years. And here it is:

2022: Trunk - What I know (damn little) about my Irish great-grandparents.

2021: Yes, I Will Be Wearing Green. Remembering what my father wore to his office (where he was one of the only non-Yankees) on St. Patrick's Day. 

2020: St. Paddy's Day No More We'll Keep, at least for this year. This is a pretty downbeat pandemic post...

2019: It's the Eve of the Eve of St. Patrick's Day  which includes my barmbrack recipe. 

2018: A Little Bit of Heaven. Don't bother with this one, but later in the month of March I did a series on being a tourist in Ireland, which included a visit to manor house (now a hotel) where my great-grandfather Matthew Trainor worked as a stable boy. 

2017: Faith & Begorrah. Did I really go to two Irish music concerts in the course of a week's time? Jaysus, I did. 

2016: Kiss Me, I'm Half Irish But, let's face it, that's the half that really counts. (Sorry, Ma.)

2015: The Wearing O' The Green. I guess 2015 was the first year I heard tell of the execrable Blarney Blowout at UMass, in which students get stupid drunk. (In 2023, 28 kids were ambulanced to the ER with alcohol poisoning.)

2014: St. Patrick's Day 2014. The month's mind of my husband's death, so I posted the lyrics to The Parting Glass (which was played at Jim's memorial service.)

2013: The Ides of St. Patrick's Day. I was even lazier than I am now. This is just an uncommented list of links to earlier posts. 

2012: Answering Ireland's Call A bit of a meander on Ireland over the years I've been going there.

2011: St. Patrick's Day 2011 - Move along, nothing much to see here.

2010: St. Paddy's Day No More We'll Keep in which I lament the young drunks marauding around downtown Boston, puking their way from Irish pub to Irish pub. 

2009: Irish Eyes Not So Smiling. My take on the not-so-stellar - and outright depressing - state of the Irish economy during the not-so-great recession. 

2008: You Say Po-tay-to. Recounting my courageous admission that I was half-German, when the nun was clearly looking for - make that demanding - everyone in the class to claim some Irish heritage. Seriously, what Boomer kid in their right mind would claim to be German, when all German meant in the immediate postwar years was Nazi? And yet, there I was, a Nazi-hating kid, summoning up my courage to say "Ich bin Deutsche." Bonus: this one includes the recipe for Aunt Margaret's soda bread. Best if slathered with Kerry Gold butter. 

2007: Kiss Me, I'm Irish Blogger's first St. Patrick's Day post. (Awwww....)

And now I have finally realized that it's actually simpler and quicker to write entirely new content than it is to do a roundup. Who knew?

Happy St. Patrick's Day.