St. Patrick's Day/Holy Week
17 Mar 2008 01:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mediaevalistAs many people in the States probably already know, it's Saint Patrick's Day. It's also the second day of Holy Week (yesterday having been Palm Sunday). This happens once in a while, when a saint's feast day falls some time within Holy Week, and because of this the saint's feast day is not officially observed by the Church.
The reaction of most Irish citizens has been, "...Huh." This can probably be said to be the reaction of most Catholics. Each group this really effects are used to it, knowing how Holy Week works and what the significance of a saint's feast day is. Which is why I find it somewhat amusing but rather silly when some Americans (who are largely neither Catholic nor of even majority Irish heritage) put up a fuss about this as a sudden revelation. Secularists can celebrate the day in the traditional American sense: wearing green plastic derbys and getting drunk. It's not as if they would have gone to Mass, anyway.
However, if we're going to look at this from the mediaeval perspective, (which, as I'm sure anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time would probably know, I always do) there are a couple of things we can take note of and observe for ourselves.
If you didn't know anything about Saint-Patrick-the-man but followed the link provided, you would read that he was himself was apparently a Scottish-born Roman or Romanised Briton who was captured and sold into slavery at sixteen to a Dál Riata Irish chieftain. During his captivity, he learned Irish and became intimately familiar with the culture, effectively 'going native'. According to most biographies, (the Wikipedia article mentions the 'two Patricks' theory, but the melding of the two is rather an awkward one, thus seems unlikely) Patrick escaped six years later, then willingly returned to spread the Gospel in Ireland. There is evidence that early churches had been established throughout Ireland, but Patrick seems to have energised evangelism from the inside out. Instead of foreign missionaries who may not have understood the language or culture, Patrick instead spoke the language and used the underlying culture to evangelise. Thus, his success as a missionary was previously unparalleled.
What the non-Catholic or non-Christian should understand here is that the significance of Saint Patrick is that -- historically-correct or not -- he became the symbol of the early Irish church (perhaps most notably for the legend of likening the Holy Trinity to the shamrock, turning it into a symbol of Irish Christianity). The Catholic Church remains the dominant church in Ireland, and although large urban centres are largely secular, the countryside is to this day filled with pious Catholics who in one way or another attribute their state of Grace to Saint Patrick. He is a marvellous symbol for the Irish Church, but he's somewhat awkward for a symbol of Irish ethnicity.
So what's someone who wants to celebrate the day in a mediaeval way to do, if not within the context of the Church? Aside from gathering your closest mates at the local brewery and chatting while nursing a single beer for hours, you could prepare a traditional Irish meal of leg of lamb. Irish society largely developed around shepherding, and just about every Irish homestead owned at least a small flock of woolly critters (One reason conversion to Christianity was so easy for many Irish: they understood all the sheep references perfectly).
Potatoes, a New World crop, were not introduced until the late 17th Century. They are so associated with Ireland now that you could 'get away' with serving them, (much the same way you could 'get away' with chocolate) but they would not have been on a mediaeval table circa 1345. Regardless, you'll want to use the often-overlooked leek, though it's Late Period (15th-16th Centuries). Also, for brack, substitute blackcurrants for raisins unless you can't stand them (Grapes tended to be associated with wine-making, a luxury of wealthy chieftains).
Cows were only owned by wealthy landowners and chieftains until relatively modern times, (read: The Cattle Raid of Cooley) and prior to metal currency they were used as currency (Hell to carry around in your purse, though). However, beef could be used in a pinch (ironically, having become much cheaper than lamb) or if you'd like to have something closer to a 'nobles' feast'. However, corned beef and cabbage is not traditional fare (Bacon and cabbage is).
If you want to be strict in the traditionalist sense and keep within Lent restrictions, (as, let's face it, a mediaeval Irish subject would have) salmon is the way to go (In fact, this is what I'll be doing as a semi-strict traditionalist and Celtic Orthodox). It had great significance not only in pre-Christian Irish mythological traditions, but has been tied to legends of early saints (While not Irish, the legend of Saint Mungo, patron saint of Glasgow, comes to mind). This is perhaps the best way to 'have your cake and eat it', celebrating both Irish tradition and Christianity (Jesus being the 'fisher of souls', another thing the Irish had an easy time relating to as there was no shortage of fishing villages along the coastlines).
The thing to remember is that not much information on everyday mediaeval Ireland survives today, (or, unfortunately, much of everyday mediaeval life in general) so serving dishes like colcannon is about as traditional as you can get even if the potato would not have been, strictly-speaking, available to the mediaeval Irish. I don't think the saints will mind.
The reaction of most Irish citizens has been, "...Huh." This can probably be said to be the reaction of most Catholics. Each group this really effects are used to it, knowing how Holy Week works and what the significance of a saint's feast day is. Which is why I find it somewhat amusing but rather silly when some Americans (who are largely neither Catholic nor of even majority Irish heritage) put up a fuss about this as a sudden revelation. Secularists can celebrate the day in the traditional American sense: wearing green plastic derbys and getting drunk. It's not as if they would have gone to Mass, anyway.
However, if we're going to look at this from the mediaeval perspective, (which, as I'm sure anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time would probably know, I always do) there are a couple of things we can take note of and observe for ourselves.
If you didn't know anything about Saint-Patrick-the-man but followed the link provided, you would read that he was himself was apparently a Scottish-born Roman or Romanised Briton who was captured and sold into slavery at sixteen to a Dál Riata Irish chieftain. During his captivity, he learned Irish and became intimately familiar with the culture, effectively 'going native'. According to most biographies, (the Wikipedia article mentions the 'two Patricks' theory, but the melding of the two is rather an awkward one, thus seems unlikely) Patrick escaped six years later, then willingly returned to spread the Gospel in Ireland. There is evidence that early churches had been established throughout Ireland, but Patrick seems to have energised evangelism from the inside out. Instead of foreign missionaries who may not have understood the language or culture, Patrick instead spoke the language and used the underlying culture to evangelise. Thus, his success as a missionary was previously unparalleled.
What the non-Catholic or non-Christian should understand here is that the significance of Saint Patrick is that -- historically-correct or not -- he became the symbol of the early Irish church (perhaps most notably for the legend of likening the Holy Trinity to the shamrock, turning it into a symbol of Irish Christianity). The Catholic Church remains the dominant church in Ireland, and although large urban centres are largely secular, the countryside is to this day filled with pious Catholics who in one way or another attribute their state of Grace to Saint Patrick. He is a marvellous symbol for the Irish Church, but he's somewhat awkward for a symbol of Irish ethnicity.
So what's someone who wants to celebrate the day in a mediaeval way to do, if not within the context of the Church? Aside from gathering your closest mates at the local brewery and chatting while nursing a single beer for hours, you could prepare a traditional Irish meal of leg of lamb. Irish society largely developed around shepherding, and just about every Irish homestead owned at least a small flock of woolly critters (One reason conversion to Christianity was so easy for many Irish: they understood all the sheep references perfectly).
Potatoes, a New World crop, were not introduced until the late 17th Century. They are so associated with Ireland now that you could 'get away' with serving them, (much the same way you could 'get away' with chocolate) but they would not have been on a mediaeval table circa 1345. Regardless, you'll want to use the often-overlooked leek, though it's Late Period (15th-16th Centuries). Also, for brack, substitute blackcurrants for raisins unless you can't stand them (Grapes tended to be associated with wine-making, a luxury of wealthy chieftains).
Cows were only owned by wealthy landowners and chieftains until relatively modern times, (read: The Cattle Raid of Cooley) and prior to metal currency they were used as currency (Hell to carry around in your purse, though). However, beef could be used in a pinch (ironically, having become much cheaper than lamb) or if you'd like to have something closer to a 'nobles' feast'. However, corned beef and cabbage is not traditional fare (Bacon and cabbage is).
If you want to be strict in the traditionalist sense and keep within Lent restrictions, (as, let's face it, a mediaeval Irish subject would have) salmon is the way to go (In fact, this is what I'll be doing as a semi-strict traditionalist and Celtic Orthodox). It had great significance not only in pre-Christian Irish mythological traditions, but has been tied to legends of early saints (While not Irish, the legend of Saint Mungo, patron saint of Glasgow, comes to mind). This is perhaps the best way to 'have your cake and eat it', celebrating both Irish tradition and Christianity (Jesus being the 'fisher of souls', another thing the Irish had an easy time relating to as there was no shortage of fishing villages along the coastlines).
The thing to remember is that not much information on everyday mediaeval Ireland survives today, (or, unfortunately, much of everyday mediaeval life in general) so serving dishes like colcannon is about as traditional as you can get even if the potato would not have been, strictly-speaking, available to the mediaeval Irish. I don't think the saints will mind.