Grab a glass of Irish whiskey and toast the Irish patron saint this St. Patrick’s Day

At Athrú we’re big fans of any occasion that unites people in merriment and memories, and even more so when the day in question is St. Patrick’s Day - a celebration of Ireland’s patron saint.

What began as a religious holiday in Ireland has become a global gathering, where the Irish and their diaspora honour St. Patrick with food, drink, revelry and togetherness - wherever in the world they may be.

This year, the celebrations might look a little different, but the foundations are the same. St. Patrick’s Day is all about friends and family coming together, and however that might look for you, on March 17th don’t forget to raise a glass or two of Irish whiskey...you can rest assured we’ll be doing the same!

As well as enjoying some single malt Irish whiskey, there are plenty of other ways to celebrate on St. Patrick’s Day, and we’ve taken a look at who St. Patrick really was, how he’s commemorated, and of course, his connections with Irish whiskey.

Who was St. Patrick?

So, the first thing we should probably clear up is the fact that St. Patrick wasn’t actually Irish. It’s believed he was born in Britain, in a place named Bannavem Taberniae. A place which no longer exists, but was a settlement in Northamptonshire during Roman times. (Now it’s the A5 main road, which seems significantly less impressive than being the birthplace of a saint.)

His journey to, and, subsequent life in Ireland, occurred in rather unpleasant circumstances - he was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family’s estate, and transported to Ireland, where he spent six years in captivity. The exact location of his enslavement is unknown, but there’s speculation that he was either held in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, or County Mayo near Killala.

Forced to work away from people as a shepherd, it was during this time that he sought solace in religion, and so began his journey into Christianity. According to his writings, one day he heard a voice telling him he needed to escape. He believed this to be the voice of God, and the voice told him that he would soon go home, and then that his ship was ready.

After six years of captivity, he walked nearly 200 miles to the Irish coast, boarded a ship, and eventually returned home to his family.

So how did he become an Irish saint? Well, once back in Britain, Patrick had a vision, this time from a messenger named Victoricus. In this vision, he was given a letter encouraging him to return to Ireland as a missionary. He once again left his hometown, this time to study religion in Europe, where he was eventually ordained as a priest.

He returned to Ireland, where teaching Christianity to the people of Ireland became his life’s work. He became a bishop and ordained other priests so that they too could help instil Christianity as a way of life in Ireland, baptised thousands of people, and also incorporated Irish culture into the religion - within 200 years of his arrival, Ireland was completely Christianised.

It’s also believed he was the creator of the Celtic cross, incorporating the Christian cross and the sun to create the Irish symbol still used in religion today.

Due to the era he lived in, St. Patrick was never actually canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, so it’s likely he became the patron saint of Ireland due to his popularity. And, more than 1,500 years later he’s still one of the most celebrated figures in the world.

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th every year - believed to be the date St. Patrick died in 460 A.D. In Ireland, the day is traditionally a religious celebration, known as St. Patrick’s ‘feast day’ and has been observed for over 1,000 years. For centuries, on this day families in Ireland would gather together - first attending church together, and after celebrating the day with dancing, food and drink. Because this day fell during Lent - a time when christians would observe fasting, this annual celebration was greatly welcomed as it allowed christians in Ireland to forego the Lent restrictions for a day and instead indulge in food, drink and merriment.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated to acknowledge the importance of the saint and his impact on religion in Ireland. He’s believed to have introduced Christianity to the country, which is fairly significant. He’s also known for his introduction of the shamrock into Irish culture - he allegedly used the clover leaf to teach christians in Ireland about the holy trinity - and the shamrock is still used today as an Irish symbol. Other notable accomplishments include the ‘banishing of snakes’ in Ireland, which legend has it can be attributed to St. Patrick (although the jury is still out on that one…)

Although the day began as a religious acknowledgement of St. Patrick's life and achievements, it’s now a worldwide celebration of the Irish patron saint.

Why is St. Patrick special to Athrú?

Athrú single malt whiskey is made and matured at the Lough Gill Distillery, which overlooks the Garavogue River, a river which carries Lough Gill’s water through Sligo Town, into Sligo Bay and then out into the Atlantic ocean. It is a river which is shrouded in Irish folklore.

Legend has it that St. Patrick met two men who were fishing along the Garavogue River in the depths of winter. He asked them for a salmon, and they explained that in winter there were none in the river. However, when they cast their nets into the water, they found they were filled with large salmon. They presented these fish to St. Patrick, who in return is said to have blessed the Garavogue River, allowing it to be bountiful with salmon in all seasons. To this day, the Garavogue River continues to enjoy one of the earliest runs of salmon of all the Irish rivers.

We love this connection to the patron saint of Ireland at our distillery - we think Lough Gill and the water we use in our single malt Irish whiskey is pretty special, and while we can confirm that our Irish whiskey is not made with salmon, we do feel a connection to the water and the saint who blessed it.

How is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated?

St. Patrick’s Day originated as a religious holiday in Ireland. In fact, up until as recently as the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. (But don’t worry, we’ve been making up for it since then…)

The tradition for celebrating annually didn’t begin until the 1700s, first in Boston in 1737 when homesick Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched in the city, and then in New York City on March 17, 1772 to honor the Irish patron saint. From there, the popularity of St. Patrick’s Day grew, and it became the much-loved commemoration of his life that we celebrate today.

Parades are now a big part of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Ireland and around the world, but the first one actually took place in 1601 in America, when an Irish vicar Ricardo Artur decided to celebrate St Patrick’s life.

Over time, St. Patrick’s Day parades have evolved from religious acknowledgements, to becoming huge international events. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade officially began in 1848 and is now not only the oldest civilian parade in the world, but also the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the United States. The procession takes over five hours, has over 150,000 participants and over 3 million people turn out every year to revel in the atmosphere, lining the streets of New York.

New York isn’t the only US city to go big on the celebrations though; in Chicago the city dyes its river green, while Boston, Philadelphia and Savannah all boast huge parades with thousands of people gathering in the cities to watch.

Globally, St Patrick's Day parades are becoming more commonplace, with Rio, Munich, London, Montserrat and even Sydney and Perth hosting their own versions of the parade. It’s safe to say St. Patrick’s Day parades are a big deal - and that’s before you even take into account the parades happening across Ireland.

The first Irish parade took place in the 1990s in Dublin, and it now has an annual turnout of more than 500,000 partygoers. Parades can be seen taking place all across Ireland, from Cork to Kilkenny and Galway to Belfast.

Parades might be a big part of the celebrations, but St. Patrick’s Day also sees people coming together in pubs to enjoy Irish music, drink Guinness enjoying traditional meals of bacon and cabbage, and of course...raising a glass of Irish whiskey to St. Patrick. In fact, worldwide, more than 5 million bottles of Irish whiskey are consumed in the week of St. Patrick’s day, and we couldn’t think of a more perfect way to honour our patron saint.

St Patrick’s whiskey connections

Irish whiskey isn’t just a part of the jubilations of St. Patrick’s Day, it has connections to St. Patrick himself. Some believe that he was the one who introduced distilling (or an early iteration of the practice of distilling) to Ireland. And, while there’s little evidence to suggest that this is the case, (the first recorded reference to whiskey in Ireland was in 1170, some 700 years after his death), the question over whether St. Patrick was the founder of Irish whiskey is one legend that won’t let up. Either way, it’s a great excuse to raise a glass of Irish whiskey to him on his special day.

How to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with Irish whiskey

The celebration of St Patrick is all about the craic, and whether you can be with your loved ones this St. Patrick’s Day, or whether you’ll be raising a glass over Zoom, rest assured, Irish whiskey will bring you together in celebration.

So, grab a glass, your favourite jokes and stories and a bottle of Irish single malt whiskey, and get tasting and toasting!

We’re all for drinking whiskey however you like, but if you fancy getting technical, we’ve put together this brief whiskey tasting guide:

How to taste Irish whiskey

The nose

First, give the whiskey a swirl to release the aromas then carefully bring it to your nose. Warning - don’t sniff too hard or your senses will be overwhelmed and you won’t be able to pick out any aromas.

Work out what you can smell - it could be leather, wood, dried fruits, grass, salt, air or all manner of other aromas.

The palate

Now to the best bit - the tasting. To do this, take a sip and then hold the whiskey in your mouth for a few seconds. You’ll start to notice the mouthfeel - it could be smooth, oily, dry or hot. Then, the flavours of the whiskey will start to emerge, and you’ll notice whether this is a smoky whiskey, a fruity whiskey, a sweet whiskey or all manner of other flavours.

The finish

Once you’ve sipped, it’s time to savour. After swallowing your whiskey, you’ll be left with a flavour in your mouth, and this is the finish. It could be short, only lasting for a few seconds, or you might find it has a long finish that lingers for minutes after you’ve drunk the last drop.

And of course, we’re biased but we think you might enjoy a dram or two of our Athrú whiskey this St. Patrick’s Day. Taste our Annacoona - a 14 year old single malt whiskey finished in a combination of Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso Sherry casks, enjoy our Knocknarea - a 14 year old single malt whiskey finished in the finest Oloroso Sherry casks, or sip our Keshcorran - a 14 year old single malt whiskey finished in Hungarian Tokaji casks.

Whichever you decide to indulge in this St. Patrick’s Day, come together with loved ones however you can, and celebrate the Athrú way.

How to Celebrate St Patrick’s Day Properly (the Athrú way)