Curly hair, fancy costumes, and Celtic music… what do these things have in common? They are all part of the tradition of Irish Dance.

Long before the common era of history, Celts and Druids roamed the island we know today as Ireland and their traditions involved dancing particularly at a feis (festival). There are feis held today, which are mostly Irish music and dance competitions.

During the 18th century, Irish dance as we know it today began to take shape. Mostly, because there were traveling dance masters who taught people to dance. This gave rise to the group dances and solo dances if you were particularly skilled. Dance masters would even compete against each other.

There are three main kinds of dances: Set, Social, and Step. The dances have very limited upper body movement and a lot of fancy and precise footwork. This was mainly because back in the 18th-19th centuries, there was not a lot of room to move around in the dance venues given they were either barns or pubs.

The costumes for the dancers can be very fancy, but for the most part, the men wear a vest and tie with dark pants and the ladies wear a long sleeve dress with a pleated skirt that is knee length and has a Celtic design or pattern on it. The ladies are also required to curl their hair or wear wigs (this is slowly becoming less common today). Dancers also typically wear either hard or soft shoes based on what dance they are performing.

Riverdance brought Irish Dance to the masses in 1994 and the show toured the world until 2011.

The Web site used in Post

• Everything you Need to Know about Irish Dancing

Check These Out At Your Local Branch or on Hoopla

 Best of Riverdance

   Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games

The Complete Guide to Irish Dance by Frank Whalen

 Traditional Airs of Ireland: Volume 1

Celtic Jigs & Reels

It’s March and that means it’s Irish-American Heritage Month! And what better way to celebrate than with an “authentic” dish that may not be traditionally Irish, but is definitely Irish-American: Corned Beef and Cabbage. This meal is really easy to prepare and for any of you amateur chefs out there, it’s REALLY tough to overcook, so give it a try! By the way, don’t you hate it when you go to get a recipe online and you have to skip through a hundred pages of meaningless, self-important blather from the blogger before you can get to the recipe?  Here at CCPL, we don’t do that.  We get right to the recipes!

But first let us find out all about the history of corned beef, why we love it so much, it’s personal relevance, and the manifold potentials for the leftovers…

Just kidding–a little corned humor!

Now, shall we start with ingredients?

Ingredients 

Some Irish Music Check out this one by Gaelic Storm from Freegal

Directions

Now, get cooking because Corned Beef can take a few hours, depending on how big it is.

You are going to need to find a pot big enough to hold the meat, and later the cabbage, potatoes, and carrots, so plan ahead when choosing.

Step 1: Cut open the corned beef package, drain it, and don’t lose the pickling spice in the plastic bag inside. Rinse the beef.

Step 2: Put the beef in the pot with the fat cap facing up (this is the lightest pink part of the meat). Cover it with water. Sometimes the fat layer makes the beef want to float. That’s okay. Just use a lid and you will be just fine.

Step 3: Bring the water to a steady boil and then reduce the heat and simmer (simmer is like a baby boil or a barely boil, if you didn’t know). Simmer the beef for 50 minutes per pound.  Once you have about 35 minutes or so remaining, proceed to step 4.

Step 4: When your beef has about 35 minutes left, add the potatoes and carrots.  Add some water if needed to cover everything. Bring the liquid to a boil, and then return to a simmer. With about 15 minutes remaining proceed to step 5.

Step 5: When you’ve got 15 minutes left, add your cabbage.  Again make sure there is enough liquid for everything, bring it to a boil, and then simmer it for the remaining time.   

Step 6: Once everything is nice and tender, pull the beef from the pot and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool (this will make it easier to cut). Cut it a quarter inch or less thick against the grain. The grain should be visible from the underside of the meat. Serve your vegetables on the side.  You might also want a little side of horseradish for added flavor.  

The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich

For some added authenticity, you can make your corned beef from scratch using a piece of beef brisket.  Here is a book that shows how.  Note: this will take over a week, so if it’s St. Patrick’s Day as you read this, it’s already too late.

Also you might want a little soda bread too:  These two books have recipes.

Paul Hollywood’s Bread by Paul Hollywood

Making Bread at Home by Jane Mason