Memories of Saint Patrick's Days

So Saint Patrick's Day has come and go. I barely celebrated it, because of my cold: I had one Guinness and a shot of whiskey (Jameson, which is ok when you have a sore throat, although I know zilch about whiskey) and some Irish stew at the local Irish pub. This year the stew was average, not as good as 2010 and 2011, I don't know why. In Montreal I made an Irish stew once, with mixed results, I think I used a Wikipedia recipe and it didn't taste all that much. At least it was better than the Irish stew I used to have when I started celebrating St Patrick's Day, which was basically something from a tin.

I enjoy celebrating St-Paddy's Day everywhere, even in Southern England. In fact, it is more celebrated here than on the Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal, where I really started making it a special day for me. I have been once to Old Dublin with my brother on the day, where it was very crowded and very enjoyable, even though I think I was the only one drinking Guinness and not green coloured lager. I went to Dublin back in 2000, a few days after Saint Patrick's Day. I missed something I guess, but I was in Ireland, so I didn't care. A Guinness is an Guinness at any day. I think my best Saint Paddy's was still in Liverpool: I spent the afternoon in the various Irish pubs in town, drank enough to feel good about it, but not too much to get drunk. I listened to Irish music, chatted with drunken Scousers or Irish (the city is full of them). I went back home in the evening and watched some documentaries about Irish folk groups, so more Irish music. Then I watched Donnie Brasco as I was sobering up. A drinking day is enjoyable when you remember enough about it. That one was.

I know it is a day too late, but I thought about uploading one last Irish song here. You can come back here next year, or simply enjoy it as it is a nice song. My father sent me information about a Black Velvet, a cocktail mixing Champagne and Guinness. A strange combination, not certain if it is not spoiling good Guinness with something too fancy and high brow.That said, because of this I had the Black Velvet Band in the head all of yesterday (with the headache caused by the Jameson). So here it is, sung of course by the Dubliners. It is a song about treachery and alcohol is after all often treacherous, especially on a Saint-Patrick's Day.