2beerguys beer blog

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Happy Happy Joy Joy.

If you aren’t working today, I hope that you are celebrating your day with a traditional Irish breakfast and making plans for your Corn Beef and Cabbage.

Over the weekend I flipped back and forth between the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade and the Rock of Love – Starting Brett Michaels [Sounds like a blast, right? Its getting down to the last 5. Lets see who will win 🙂 HA. HA.] Anyways, there was over 80 marching bands in the parade and many happy observers. Even thought it was a little dreary, it looked like a fun time. South Boston is the place to be this week….

I hope that you enjoyed the St. Patrick’s Day remix picture of Ignace. It will be around during our week long celebration. For those who are new beer guys, who is Ignace? Ignace is a colleague of mine, living in Belgium and is the ambassador of 2Beerguy quawn, man. Not only does he inspire is to be fair and search for quality/balanced beer, he also brings a twist of joy and an international perspective to our family. He is a lover of Belgium Beer and a new believer that America does create tasty beers. He hasn’t blogged in a while, but hopefully this remix will inspire some literary genius.

Thursday night is our IPA class at Leary’s. Ian and I are VERY excited for this class. If you haven’t signed up, don’t worry, I am sure that we will do it again – maybe. (Even though it’s full, you can still call up and get on the waiting list.)

BTW… Do YOU know where DA gold’s at? Take out your Leprechaun flute and summon a little friend.

I’ve included the story of St. Patrick’s day below.

Enjoy.

Sean
2beerguys.com

Drink Craft Beer, You’ve Earned It.

Originally posted on: Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
Let the Festivities Begin!
Who is St. Patrick and why does he have his own day?

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn’t get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick’s Day ever since. Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick’s Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.

Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

The St. Patrick’s Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick’s Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.

Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick’s Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.

What does this day mean to the 2 beer guys?

The 2 beer guys hold a special place in their heart for St. Patrick’s day. In addition to making our first major alterations to the 2 beer guys website, we celebrated in 2 beer guy fashion by enjoying the company of our friends while sampling some tasty Irish brew at a local watering hole. We were very excited to have Ignace as the ambassador to our celebrations on the website. We hope that you enjoyed the brief changes.