Corned beef, cabbage, green beer, Danny Boy, and Bagpipes—these are what many Americans associate with the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day. But, I’ve been going to Ireland for decades and never experienced any of it on the Emerald Isle! Today is March 17th, Saint Patrick’s Day, a national holiday in Ireland, and a time for people all over the world to dress up in green, lift a pint, and do a little celebrating.
Through the years, I’ve enjoyed being in Ireland during the St. Paddy’s Day festivities. We offer student tours through Exploring Europe, and as part of that, I’ve brought several marching bands to Ireland to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day parades in Dublin and Cork. It was back in 2005 that I loaded my Ridgeview High School Band on flights to Ireland, did a little exploring around Wicklow, and marched down O’Connell Street on St. Paddy’s Day. We were cheered on by thousands of Irish lining the streets. My colleague Jen Pierotti was a student back then and recounted her experience in our
Exploring Europe Newsletter last month.
Over the years of leading tours in Ireland, I’ve met many locals: bus drivers, pub, hotel, and restaurant owners, and tour guides who have become my friends. It’s said you never meet a stranger in Ireland, and that’s true! But not once have any of them served me a pint of green beer with cornbeef and cabbage, ha! So, where did all this nonsense come from? Why do we Americans believe that these traditions exist in Ireland?
Corned Beef and Cabbage – The tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage is largely an Irish-American invention, not a purely Irish one. Here’s how it came about:
In Ireland, the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal was actually bacon (we call it ham) and cabbage. Pork was the most common meat in Ireland, as cattle were primarily used for dairy and were too valuable to slaughter for everyday eating.
When Irish immigrants arrived in America in large numbers — particularly during and after the Great Famine of the 1840s — they settled in urban areas like New York City, often in close proximity to Jewish immigrant communities. They discovered that Jewish-style corned beef, available at kosher butcher shops and delis, was a cheaper and more accessible substitute for the bacon they were used to at home. The brined, boiled preparation was also similar enough in texture and flavor to feel familiar.
Cabbage remained in the dish because it was cheap, filling, and had always been a staple in Irish cooking.
Green Beer – Again, this is an Irish-American invention, not an Irish one. The story goes that in 1914, an Irish-American coroner living in New York City concocted an emerald colored beer at a Bronx social club. The secret ingredient was a laundry whitener called “Wash Blue.”
Read the full story in the Irish Central.
Top of the Morning to you! – This is a myth. Brendan, an old-time Irishman, told me years ago that he’d been born and raised in (County) Kerry and never heard the phrase until American tourists arrived in the 1970’s.
Danny Boy – The melody — known as the “Londonderry Air” — is genuinely Irish. It’s a traditional tune from County Londonderry (Derry) in Ulster, first transcribed in the 1850s from a local folk musician. Its origins are ancient and authentically Irish. The lyrics, however, were written by an Englishman named Frederic Weatherly, a lawyer and songwriter from Somerset, England. He wrote the words in 1910, initially set to a different tune. When his sister-in-law in America sent him the Londonderry Air melody, he realized his lyrics fit it perfectly and adapted them in 1913. The irony is that “Danny Boy” is arguably more beloved in the Irish diaspora (especially Irish-Americans) than in Ireland itself, where some find it a bit of a cliché. Many Irish people jokingly refer to it as a song Americans sing about Ireland rather than a song Ireland sings about itself.
Bagpipes – Bagpipes are actually most strongly associated with Scotland, not Ireland — though the confusion is understandable. Here’s why the mix-up happens and what the real history looks like:
Why Americans conflate them with Irish culture
- In the US, Scottish and Irish immigrant communities were often grouped together under a broad “Celtic” identity. St. Patrick’s Day parades — the most visible Celtic cultural event in America — frequently feature bagpipes, which reinforce the association with Ireland.
- Irish-American police and fire departments historically adopted bagpipe bands (often modeled after Scottish military traditions), so Americans hear pipes at Irish-American funerals and civic events constantly.
- The general “Celtic” aesthetic blurs the line between Scottish and Irish in popular American imagination.
The actual history
- The Great Highland Bagpipe is definitely Scottish in origin and became iconic through the British military and Highland culture.
- Ireland does have its own bagpipe — the uilleann pipes — but it looks and sounds quite different. They’re quieter, bellows-driven (not mouth-blown), and have a much softer, more melodic tone. They’re less commonly seen in American public life.
- Both traditions descend from ancient Celtic roots, so there’s a genuine shared ancestry, but they diverged significantly.
