Celtic Recipes

Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

– Benjamin Franklin

The Irish Public House maintains a ubiquitous presence on the American urban landscape. The Irish “Pub” stands as an island of Celtic identity, giving proof to the impact that Irish immigration has had on the American psyche. Whether one points to the immensity of America’s Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations, the stunning surge in attendance in recent years at Celtic festivals across North America or simply to the Irish Pub, there is no question that a strong Celtic strain of cultural ethnicity is inextricably mixed with the European American identity. The Irish Pub is considered by many to be a cultural institution, a conjurer’s image of refuge from the confusion of the 21st century. A place that preserves a time and a way of life that is now almost forgotten. An anchor in a fractured and changing American ethnic landscape which affords comfort from a rapidly changing mosaic of cultural influences.

Review of "Irish Pubs in America" by Robert Myers with Ron Wallace

“Irish Pubs in America”, by Robert Meyers with Ron Wallace, is lushly illustrated, meticulously researched and shows a respect for the subject matter. This is a one-of-a-kind coffee table book which features more than 50 Irish Pubs throughout America. It is a work that deals in the currency of iconographic imagery and reflects the regard the authors possess for the subject matter. Meyers and Wallace have opened a window into the Irish Pub, a low door in the garden wall exposing a path that goes a long way towards capturing the essence of the American version of the Celtic Public House. In a recent interview the author states:

We logged 50,000 air miles and performed hundreds of interviews with Pub owners.  We quickly found out we didn’t just want to highlight the most famous Pubs. Instead it was the people, history and the buildings themselves that distinguish them as truly distinctive.

Meyers emphasizes this point in the preface, "This book is more than a survey of Irish Pubs. It is a tribute to Irish culture and the contributions that the Irish have made to the United States."

January 9th marks the five hundredth anniversary of the death of Anne of Brittany (Breton: Anna Vreizh) in 1514. Born in Nantes, Brittany she was the daughter of Francis II (Breton: Frañsez II) and Margaret of Foix. Anne was their only surviving child and she became Duchess of Brittany upon the death of her father in 1488.

Anne was only aged twelve when she inherited the Duchy and was the last independent ruler of Brittany. These were turbulent times and marriage to Anne was sought by both the House of Habsburg and the French Crown. Despite a treaty between France and Brittany that required French agreement on the marriage of Anne, a proxy marriage with Maximilian 1 was undertaken. The treaty in question was the Treaty of Sablé; forced upon Brittany by the French after defeat at the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier on July 28, 1488.

Anne’s proxy marriage to Maximilian 1 of Austria at Rennes on 19th December 1490 upset the French, who saw it as a breach of the Treaty of Sablé and at the same time placed Brittany in an alliance with their enemy. The subsequent French invasion and fall of Rennes led to Anne’s proxy marriage to Maximilian being forcibly broken. Anne was given no choice but to become engaged to Charles VIII and they were married on 6th December 1491. At the time of Charles death in 1498 they had no surviving children. Anne then married Louis XII (cousin and successor to Charles) and they had two daughters Claude and Renée.

Anne died on January 9th 1514 just before her 37th birthday at Château de Blois. Her last wishes were for her heart to be removed, placed in a gold reliquary, then brought to her beloved Brittany and placed in the tomb of her parents at Nantes. Throughout her life Anne of Brittany sought to defend the autonomy of Brittany and to preserve the Duchy as separate from the French crown. Anna Vreizh was a very pious woman and in 1505 made a pilgrimage around Brittany, known as the Tro Breizh, to honour the seven founding Saints of Brittany-Malo, Samson, Brieuc, Tugdual, Pol Aurélien, Corentin and Patern. She is remembered for her intelligence and as a promoter of literature and the arts. The Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany was commissioned by Anne in the early sixteenth century. A book of hours is a Christian devotional book and the Great Book of Hours of Anne of Brittany is beautifully illustrated and has been described as one of the best ever made. It is seen to be the work of miniature painter and illuminator Jean Bourdichon.