St. Carthage and Lismore - a brief history

St. Carthage is the patron saint of my home town of Lismore. I posted a picture of a tree carving in a recent post of a lightning-blasted tree that had been sculpted into a statue of St. Carthage on a plinth, very cleverly done by a Welsh sculptor in 2005, when she was commissioned by the Town Council to turn it into something emblematic. This showed some ingenuity not usually associated with local government and was a welcome change from the more usual chop it down for firewood approach. You can see the end result here and it is pretty quirky and quite a conversation piece in the local Millenium Park. Some of the comments on the earlier post focused on the tree carving so I took some close-ups of it for this post. And I thought to include a potted history of himself in the event any readers are into ancient history!


The sculpture tree of St. Carthage in Lismore's Millenium Park, with the fountain in foreground




















St. Carthage came to Lismore from Offaly (where Barack Obama's somewhat tenuous Irish links originated!) in 636AD and founded a monastery - Lismore was a great seat of learning in those days until the Vikings came along in the 9th and 10th Century to plunder and pillage - and it managed to retain its academic status until the Normans arrived in 1172. You can read more and see some pictures and photos here . Lismore Castle was built some years later by Prince John - later King John - when he was sent as Lord of Ireland by his dad King Henry II, who came here on foot of papal "Bull" (not a derogatory term but the actual one for some sort of edict) to bring the natives into line with the church in Rome.

I think we as a nation have collectively and conveniently forgotten the moot point that it was really the church's intervention in Irish affairs that instigated the turbulent centuries of colonisation. This "elephant in the corner" attitude merely reflects the unquestioning acceptance of the Irish population to the teachings of the church and its insidious intrusion into every aspect of Irish society right up to the first (defeated) divorce referendum in 1986. Thereafter its influence waned considerably, as one after another unfolding scandal caused a loss of all credibility, resulting in a much healthier relationship and division between church and state, well in all areas except the schools which is a whole other story for another day.

Back to King John - this was the start of the 800 years of occupation which has had such resonance in our recent history, culminating in our independence in 1922, following a bloody Civil War and the famous Easter Rising of 1916. The euphemistically named "Troubles" in the North of Ireland gained notoriety for Ireland over the past number of years until cross-border agreements led to a power-sharing that would have been unthinkable in the dark days of the 70s and 80s, and much of the 90s.

Detail of the tree sculpture

Lismore Castle

The Castle has been rebuilt numerous times and only took on its current look after rebuilding in the early 1800s following a fire. Robert Boyle the scientist of Boyle's Law fame lived here in his youth, and it has been the Irish home of the Duke of Devonshire for generations. It was the setting for an ITV production of Austen's "Northanger Abbey" a few years back, and has links with Fred Astaire as his sister Adele was married to a former Duke and they came here annually, right up to their deaths.

Lismore has two churches named for the patron saint. The Church of Ireland (Anglican) one is St. Carthage's Cathedral, and it is a church that predates the Reformation, with stone figures from the 9th Century. The Catholic St. Carthage's Church is also technically a cathedral as it is a Diocesan seat of the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, but is much newer, dating from 1884. The older church is a wonderful venue for musical events, as the acoustics are terrific, and we have all enjoyed many a choral or classical concert there over the years.

St. Carthage's Catholic Church as seen from my front door last week in a snowfall - an Irish blizzard!


There is another local link to St. Carthage and that is the Holy Well, which has recently been renovated. His feast day is celebrated on May 14th or 15th, depending on your vintage - I always thought it the 14th. As a child that was the only day the well was open for prayers and rumour had it that the well only filled at this time, and was dry the rest of the year. An urban myth or wishful miraculous thinking, as since the renovation and year-round accessibility, it is always full! There are some photos of the well and its descriptive plaque here.



So that's a bit of local history and something I grew up with and somehow the tree sculpture has rekindled a lot of interest in the background to Lismore's origins as a once-renowned seat of learning all over monastic Europe. You can see much more at this Heritage Centre link if you wish.

St. Carthage's Well - newly renovated and open year-round.

Pancake Day - Shrove Tuesday

Today is the traditional Pancake Day in this part of the world, certainly in Ireland and Britain, and probably in many other countries. Wikipedia tells us that it is tradition to eat pancakes among Anglican and Lutheran communities on this day - which is why I am always a bit skeptical about the veracity of Wikipedia reports as fact! I always reserve judgement, as I would argue that Pancake Day is as much an Irish Catholic tradition as it is among the Protestant community!

Pancake with cream, maple syrup, banana and pecan nuts


The day before Ash Wednesday the first day of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday in these parts, and radio and television reports today are full of voxpops on the favourite way to eat pancakes as well as numerous recipes and much debate about the best fillings/toppings. As Lent was a time of fast and abstinence (in the past more so than now), Shrove Tuesday was seen as the last fling before the penance began. I can recall my mother abstaining from meat for all of Lent, and Ash Wednesday and Good Friday being "Black Fast Days" where you could only drink black tea (a real hardship in the home of milky tea!) and eat dry bread and one meatless meal. In other words, no meal at all by Irish standards in those pre-vegetarian days!

Shrove has something to do with shrive which means getting absolution for sin, which Irish people excel in, as we lead the world in Catholic guilt. This has somewhat diminished in recent years as the church was forced to loosen its stranglehold on the nation's morality since it lost its own moral compass when the scandals of child abuse and clerical collusion were exposed.

We always called today Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, and Ash Wednesday marked the start of six weeks of Lent, which always entailed fast and abstinence - the giving up of something addictive like alcohol or cigarettes, or in the case of children, sweets or chocolate, or crisps, or soft drinks. It is often seen as a good opportunity in these secularised times to go on a bit of a detox and lose some weight! Of course the one exemption is St. Patrick's Day, when anything goes in the name of the national Saint.

One nice custom that is synonymous with Lent in Ireland in recent years is the Trócaire box, where families and individuals are encouraged to put the money saved from the abstention from treats in a box which goes to the aid agency for a specific project every year in the developing world. The focus is generally on children affected by war, famine, climate change, child labour, and this year's theme is forced migration from war, either as refugees or internally displaced persons. It is always personalised, with a real child's story told on the box, which really speaks to the relatively privileged Irish kids. Regardless of the economic hardship we might be facing here it is nothing compared to what kids and adults in the conflict zones of the poorer countries face.


In my childhood Pancake Day was a much anticipated feast, as pancakes were not eaten during the rest of the year and were associated with this day. Sugar and fresh-squeezed lemon juice were all that you needed for a delicious treat! Today the humble pancake has been pimped totally over the top, with every imaginable filling competing for space in the cookery pages and television cookery programmes. I have just had a feast of pancakes with sugar and lemon filling, which is probably the best as it brings me right back to my childhood and is pure nostalgia trip, and a fancy filling of maple syrup and cream with roast chopped pecans or walnuts sprinkled on top. Strawberry jam or Blackcurrant jam, honey and lemon, and Chocolate spread are other options, and cinnamon and cocoa dusted over the top, or icing sugar, are worth a try. In fact, anything goes!


In Ireland there is a savoury potato pancake called Boxty, which uses both mashed boiled potatoes and grated raw potato, millk, egg and flour - plain or wholemeal flour or a mix of both. These can be eaten with eggs, or ham and cheese, or a ragout-type sauce filled with mushrooms, chicken, ham - any savoury filling you like!

A pancake in the pan!

In Holland some years ago we visited a wonderful "pannekoekhuis" in Lierop, a village in Brabant, with some Dutch friends. It was in an old building in the centre of the village and had the biggest pancakes I ever saw, and they were both savoury and sweet, with wonderful fillings. In Spain, our son Shayne has worked for a number of years in an internet cafe-cum-gelateria and creperie, Melias in Malgrat de Mar near Barcelona, and they do wonderful crepes and pancakes in which I over-indulge every summer! My favourite is the banana, honey, whipped cream and walnuts, which is (cliché alert!) to die for.


So after all that rambling around, here is my recipe, which has pretty standard proportions, with a slightly higher egg ratio, most recipes of this quantity use 4 eggs but I prefer to add one more.

Pancakes


Ingredients

• 11ozs/300gms plain flour



• 5 eggs



• 1 pint/600ml milk



• quarter-pint/150 ml water



• pinch salt



• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional for sweet pancakes; omit for savoury pancakes)

Method

Put all ingredients into blender jug and whizz for 1 minute until smooth batter consistency

Alternatively put flour in bowl, add beaten eggs and pour in milk while beating with whisk -hand or electric - till smooth.

Add vanilla and pinch salt.

Stand covered in jug or bowl for an hour or more - no idea why but it is part of the pancake gospel that it mproves the end product.

Cooking


Heat small frying pan or crepe pan, add some cooking oil - I use olive but any good oil will do - and heat to smoking.

Pour in ladle of batter and swirl pan immediately to spread over base thinly.

Cook until set, turn down heat to medium to avoid burning

Flip over by tossing pan if you have good wrist action and are feeling lucky! (or use spatula!)

Cook flipside till golden brown

Eat immediately with preferred filling.

Enjoy with lots of different fillings!

Handy Tip: Keep warm on plate over saucepan of hot water, do not heat in oven as this will crisp them and pancakes must be soft. They are not chappatis or tortillas!