New Years in Ireland!

When I asked Biddy Murphy CEO Ward Gahan what New Years was like in Ireland compared to the US he said “it’s not much different! People still drink plenty!” I wanted to dig a little deeper, so I asked my friend Sam, who went to Ireland last year around the New Year to visit our Irish friends in Tullycross, Co. Galway, where we studied abroad. Sam told me that there was a disco - which is what the Irish call a dance party in the pubs - at the local Paddy Coynes. She told me the whole town of Tullycross was there, and everyone was elbow to elbow as they danced and chatted. The manager of Coynes is also a fantastic DJ, and Sam said that he DJed the whole night. I imagine he probably played a lot of his favorite 80s tunes! Just as everywhere else in the world, the Irish counted down as the clock struck midnight and exchanged kisses with whoever they can find. Though Paddy Coynes usually closes around midnight in the winter, the party rages on for a few more hours into the New Year!

For the Irish especially, drinking is a big part of celebrating the New Year. All the Irish people keep a pint of their favorite alcohol in their hand all night! Of course, there’s always people celebrating with a dark, delicious pint of smooth and creamy Guinness. Many people celebrate with a pint of Bulmers Cider, my personal favorite. This sweet and lightly bubbly drink is so ingrained in Irish culture that most Irish people think that the word cider always refers to an alcoholic! This cider is known as Magners outside of Ireland if you ever want to find a glass. For the older gentlemen who sit by the bar and chat, Smithwicks, a light beer, is their drink of choice.

If you like to drink your beer or whiskey out of a glass like the Irish do (drinking a Guinness from a can or bottle is what the Irish like to call "wrong") check out Biddy Murphy's lovely glassware with an extra touch of Irish spirit, like these Trinity Knot glasses.  

 After a night of drinking and celebrating, most Irish    folks wake up hungover on New Year’s day.  For many Irish people, they roll out of bed and head straight to the pub again; in the case of Tullycross, they head to Angler’s Rest, the more casual counterpart of Paddy Coyne’s. At Angler’s Rest you can order a full Irish breakfast. The greasy piles of sausage, bacon, fried tomato, baked beans, fried egg, black and white pudding is sure to cure your hangover. The second best hangover cure, a cup of black Irish tea, is a must to shoo away the remainder of a headache.

Some Irish folks, however, the prefer the “hair of the dog” technique. I can picture Donal, one of the local lads of Tullycross, telling the Americans about his hangover cure: ordering another beer. The Irish swear by this technique, saying that it dispels any headache. “The hair of the dog” is a slippery slope, so the drink of choice for this technique is a Guinness. A Guinness will fill you up, dispel a hangover, and even has some health benefits… so they like to say!  If you're a "hair of the dog" type, you'll probably enjoy our Biddy Bargains Guinness Sale! 

For the Irish, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day set a tone for the rest of the year; a year of spending time in pubs, surrounded by their community. Here at Biddy Murphy, we’re thankful for another great year of amazing customers, and hope to keep building our community into the new year.

Slainte! (Cheers)

P.S. If you prefer to clink glasses with champagne over Guinness, prepare for next year with these beautiful champagne flutes!