Do the Irish really eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Pat's Day or any day at all?

Q: I am one of the many irish here in the U.S. (mom 100% irish-dad 50% irish-50% polish) and was raised believing that you HAVE to eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day. It was my great grandparents that came over from Ireland and they were long dead by the time I was born-out of my grandparents only one was still alive past my 3rd b-day and she was very tight lipped about "family things". She died a few years ago from Alzheimer's. I really don't know anyone who knows anything about this. I make corned beef & cabbage (potatoes, onions, and carrots too!) on St. Pat's Day because it's a fun tradition within my family, but I also cook it at other times of the year as well because it's just soooo good..

A: It's not common in Ireland at all, actually. The reason why people eat it in the U.S. is: many of the Irish who emigrated here did so during the 1840's, and were very poor. Among the poor Irish at this time, the big festive meal you ate on holidays was ham or bacon with cabbage, and when they came to this country, they either couldn't find exactly the right kind of bacon or couldn't afford it; corned beef was the closest thing they could find, so they had that instead. So other Americans saw all these Irish immigrants eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day and assumed that that's what they ate over in Ireland as well, and so then they started serving corned beef and cabbage "just like real Irish people do", and it became an Irish-American tradition. Personally, I know several actually Irish dishes that are better, but corned beef and cabbage does have a place in Irish-American tradition.

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