The Luck of the Irish

The 17th March saw the celebration of possibly the world's largest national festival when Irish and non Irish people celebrated St Patrick's Day, or Paddy's day as it is often called.

The success of this even each year is not a little due to the Irish love of travel and it is hard to find a town or a property around the world that does not have an Irish Bar run by a genuine Irishman. There are a few Irish bars around the world that are not owned by Irishmen but they are not really the same.

One of the delights for St Patrick's day is the copious quantities of Guinness and Irish beers such as Kilkenny that are consumed by just about everyone participating.

One of the quirks of the day is the dying of everything green, the traditional Irish colour and so involved in the participation are many countries that they ignore local food regulations and dye their beer green too. We had a very interesting pint of lager that had been died green using lemongrass extract that did not significantly change its flavour.

Accompanying, or rather helping to soak up the alcohol are normally big bowls of Irish Stew and crusty bread to soak up the juices - an excellent repast and one that can be consumed all through the day

In the past cities such as Chicago and Sydney have died their rivers green to celebrate the day but concerns for other creatures living in the river have stemmed this practice much to the disappointment of party goers.

Personally I prefer to have a mixed grill on the day with all the trimmings including black and white puddings as well as plenty of soda bread and fries.

Now if only other country's national days could be so much fun we could have a party nearly every day...