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The world of Irish whiskeyPhoto, J Micallef
It's St. Patrick's Day, an occasion to celebrate Ireland's patron saint's day and all that is Celtic and Irish. Irish Whiskey has always been omnipresent in the annual celebration. According to the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), more than 5 million bottles of Irish whiskey are consumed during the St. Patrick's week, more than any other week of the year.
The close badociation between St. Patrick's Day and Irish whiskey has given rise to the widespread belief that it is the venerable saint who introduced the art of distillation and, by extension, whiskey to Ireland. Is there a truth to this notion?
The first reference to whiskey in Ireland, or at least to its predecessor, dates from 1170. Shortly after his invasion of Ireland, Henry II noted that the Irish had the habit of making and drinking. Eau de vie. In Gaelic, we called him uisce beatha, a term that was eventually corrupted by the English in whiskey.
Henri II's reference to Eau de vieThe Latin word "eau de vie" is the oldest reference to the production and consumption of distilled spirits in Ireland and preceded their introduction in Scotland for several centuries. Although the origins of whiskey distillation in Ireland are unclear, there is no doubt about who showed the Scots how to make whiskey – the Irish taught them.
It is impossible that the practice of distillation was introduced in Ireland by St. Patrick, regardless of the close badociation of St. Patrick's and Irish whiskey. & Nbsp; St. Patrick had grown up in Roman Britain in the 5th century. There is no historical record of the distillation of alcohol in the British Isles during this period.
Moreover, although it is proven that minimal amounts of alcohol were produced during the Roman period to be used in religious rituals, there is no record of significant amounts of alcohol. alcohol, to be consumed as a drink, produced elsewhere in the Roman Empire.
Roman writers have produced a prodigious number of publications on Roman gastronomy in general and, in particular, on the production and appreciation of fine wines. Nowhere in this literature does it refer to the consumption of alcohol as a drink.
One does not see how St. Patrick could have acquired a knowledge of distillation, much less that he taught the Irish to do it.
It has also been suggested that distillation was a vestige of Celtic civilization. Here too, there is no evidence of this link.
Today, we badociate Ireland with Celtic culture. Traditional Irish music is often called Celtic music. Celtic symbols, folklore and legends are all part of Irish life. It is therefore easy to conclude that Ireland was the center of the Celtic world. This conclusion, however, is incorrect.
At its peak, Celtic civilization ranged from Ireland to the Black Sea and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. In ancient times, the center of Celtic civilization was northwestern France, centered on the region we now call Champagne. From the first century BC, most of the Celtic world was systematically conquered by the legions of Rome and gradually absorbed by the Roman Empire.
Ireland, Hibernia, among the Romans, on the borders of known geography, was the only part of the Celtic world to have escaped the Roman conquest. The Romans sent some exploratory expeditions to Ireland during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but they found little interest in arousing their interest.
Roman Britain was one of the few Roman provinces to operate at a loss. The cost of the Roman administration and the maintenance of Roman troops exceeded the tax revenues generated by the province. The Romans concluded that garrisoning and the administration of Ireland would only drain the treasure and left Hibernia alone.
If the distillation of alcohol had been part of Celtic civilization, it is likely that the Romans would have familiarized it with the conquest of Gaul, the very heart of the Celtic world, and the subsequent conquest of Great Britain. In ancient times, however, there is no trace of alcohol distillation in the Celtic world.
The most likely explanation is that the knowledge of distillation diffused from the Middle East through various routes is between the eighth and twelfth century. The monasteries became the repository of this knowledge, transmitted by the itinerant monks to other monasteries. It is probably as well as the knowledge of the distillation arrived in Ireland. It was the beginning of Irish whiskey, although it must wait nearly five centuries before modern whiskey begins to emerge.
Whichever way the Irish learned how to make whiskey, the close badociation between Irish whiskey and St. Patrick's Day remains. So, on St. Patrick's Day, raise a little drama of good Irish whiskey to celebrate Ireland's patron saint's day. St. Patrick may not have taught the Irish to make whiskey, but he certainly exerted a considerable influence on his consumption.
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The world of Irish whiskeyPhoto, J Micallef
It's St. Patrick's Day, an occasion to celebrate Ireland's patron saint's day and all that is Celtic and Irish. Irish Whiskey has always been omnipresent in the annual celebration. According to the Irish Whiskey Association (IWA), more than 5 million bottles of Irish whiskey are consumed during the St. Patrick's week, more than any other week of the year.
The close badociation between St. Patrick's Day and Irish whiskey has given rise to the widespread belief that it is the venerable saint who introduced the art of distillation and, by extension, whiskey to Ireland. Is there a truth to this notion?
The first reference to whiskey in Ireland, or at least to its predecessor, dates from 1170. Shortly after his invasion of Ireland, Henry II noted that the Irish had the habit of making and drinking. Eau de vie. In Gaelic, we called him uisce beatha, a term that was eventually corrupted by the English in whiskey.
Henri II's reference to Eau de vieThe Latin word "eau de vie" is the oldest reference mentioned in the manufacture and consumption of distilled spirits in Ireland and preceded their introduction in Scotland for several centuries. Although the origins of whiskey distillation in Ireland are unclear, there is no doubt about who showed the Scots how to make whiskey – the Irish taught them.
It is impossible that the practice of distillation was introduced in Ireland by St. Patrick, regardless of the close badociation of St. Patrick's and Irish whiskey. St. Patrick had grown up in Roman Britain in the fifth century. There is no historical record of the distillation of alcohol in the British Isles during this period.
Moreover, although it is proven that minimal amounts of alcohol were produced during the Roman period to be used in religious rituals, there is no record of significant amounts of alcohol. alcohol, to be consumed as a drink, produced elsewhere in the Roman Empire.
Roman writers have produced a prodigious number of publications on Roman gastronomy in general and, in particular, on the production and appreciation of fine wines. Nowhere in this literature does it refer to the consumption of alcohol as a drink.
One does not see how St. Patrick could have acquired a knowledge of distillation, much less that he taught the Irish to do it.
It has also been suggested that distillation was a vestige of Celtic civilization. Here too, there is no evidence of this link.
Today, we badociate Ireland with Celtic culture. Traditional Irish music is often called Celtic music. Celtic symbols, folklore and legends are all part of Irish life. It is therefore easy to conclude that Ireland was the center of the Celtic world. This conclusion, however, is incorrect.
At its peak, Celtic civilization ranged from Ireland to the Black Sea and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. In ancient times, the center of Celtic civilization was northwestern France, centered on the region we now call Champagne. From the first century BC, most of the Celtic world was systematically conquered by the legions of Rome and gradually absorbed by the Roman Empire.
Ireland, Hibernia, among the Romans, on the borders of known geography, was the only part of the Celtic world to have escaped the Roman conquest. The Romans sent some exploratory expeditions to Ireland during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but they found little interest in arousing their interest.
Roman Britain was one of the few Roman provinces to operate at a loss. The cost of the Roman administration and the maintenance of Roman troops exceeded the tax revenues generated by the province. The Romans concluded that garrisoning and the administration of Ireland would only drain the treasure and left Hibernia alone.
If the distillation of alcohol had been part of Celtic civilization, it is likely that the Romans would have familiarized it with the conquest of Gaul, the very heart of the Celtic world, and the subsequent conquest of Great Britain. In ancient times, however, there is no trace of alcohol distillation in the Celtic world.
The most likely explanation is that the knowledge of distillation diffused from the Middle East through various routes is between the eighth and twelfth century. The monasteries became the repository of this knowledge, transmitted by the itinerant monks to other monasteries. It is probably as well as the knowledge of the distillation arrived in Ireland. It was the beginning of Irish whiskey, although it must wait nearly five centuries before modern whiskey begins to emerge.
Whichever way the Irish learned how to make whiskey, the close badociation between Irish whiskey and St. Patrick's Day remains. So, on St. Patrick's Day, raise a little drama of good Irish whiskey to celebrate Ireland's patron saint's day. St. Patrick may not have taught the Irish to make whiskey, but he certainly exerted a considerable influence on his consumption.
Sláinte
