Happy Thanksgiving!
Yes indeed, it is the most yankee of holidays - Thanksgiving.
Sure, you might think independence day should have that distinction, but I beg to differ! You see, most countries have their independence day - but only the US has a national holiday given over purely to the sentiment of gratitude. Given that many other countries (and Ireland included) would see the US as a fairly arrogant nation, I think it’s every US citizen’s duty, and especially those residing abroad, to let the world know about this revered day of implicit humility.
What? You may be asking - that crazy day of gluttony and ill-advised post-dinner football games on the front lawn? That horrifying day when 10,000 relatives descend on the house to create mayhem . . . and what of the horrible 15 weeks afterwards when leftover turkey is served in increasingly desperate disguises as an item in every meal of the day? Turkey and eggs for breakfast. Turkey burgers for lunch. Turkey lasagne for dinner. Turkey and ice cream for dessert.
No, says I, you’re missing the point.
Our first year in Ireland our cousins in Dublin very generously gave over their kitchen to my wife’s culinary inclinations in order to discover for themselves what this mysterious holiday was all about. I recall being cornered by one particulary fascinated male relative that year who said, “So, what is this Thanksgiving all about? I mean, what do you do? Do ya just go around saying thank you all day or . . . what is it?
He wasn’t the only one mystified. The Irish see an awful lot of references to turkey day in movies and on television, but they’re quite unclear as to what is going on. I explained about the pilgrims and the native americans and the harvest feast. I told them about how the natives had shown the Plymouth settlers how to survive and how they had held a thanksgiving feast to thank their new friends and how this is still the feast we celebrate today.
I considered mentioning the subsequent genocide and smallpox blankets and the fact that the thanksgiving feast story was actually fabricated by Abraham Lincoln after the civil war to reunite a war-torn, divided country . . . but then I saw their faces all lit up with the wonderful sentiments so I just smiled and poured myself another beer.
Yes, we introduced them to such exotic dishes as pumpkin pie, onion dip, cranberry sauce and string beans with crispy bacon. We gave thanks at the table for this new land we had arrived in - these friendly natives who had given us so much assistance. I even held off of any jokes about wifey’s “people” (wifey is part Modoc indian) for the whole day, something I know she was certainly thankful for.
So this year we’ll be having a quiet little affair at home. A larger gathering of local ex-pats was cancelled this afternoon, so I was surprised and pleased to find fresh turkeys for sale in Dunnes Stores this evening. Looks like munchkin will be introduced to her mother’s heavenly stuffing. I will be eating my weight in pumpkin pie.
God bless Ireland.
By Seán | Permalink
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Interestingly, many Americans, including Native Americans, are offended by the celebration of Thanksgiving. Why? For one thing, its history is spotty to say the least. . . . President Abraham Lincoln ordered it a national holiday during the bloodiest war in American history, the Civil War, to distract civilians from the carnage. And several reference works, including the “Encyclopedia Britannica” report that in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims celebrated for three days with there ‘Indian’ friends. . . . . However, in the years that followed, thanksgiving holidays were kept to celebrate all kinds of events other than the harvest. The most infamous “thanksgiving” was proclaimed in 1637 ( a mere 16 years after the original celebration) by Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to celebrate the massacre of hundreds of Pequot Indians. Therefore, one can appreciate that, while it’s a wonderful idea to give thanks, the origins of American’s ‘thankful’ holiday leave much to be desired.
Well I\\\’ll be. Wifey did the cooking and Sean did the gluttonizing? I\\\’m glad you both had fun. Thanks for the plug to Modocs everywhere. Ireland should be grateful for the talented pair (Plus the mini one) they have among them.
Val - wow, I’d never heard the 1637 thing.
I did a little wikipedia-ing here, and discovered a great deal of ignorance on my part.
First off, it looks like the actual feast DID happen and is well documented in personal journals from the time. Secondly, it looks like Lincoln wasn’t the only president to publicly call for a national day of Thanksgiving. Thirdly, and speaking of honest Abe there, it was certainly unfair of me to say he fabricated Thanksgiving and also that he did so purely as a distraction to the carnage of the civil war, because he talks about the conflict quite frankly in the speech, referring to it at one point as “a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity”.
All that aside, a national day of gratitude, historically abused or not, seems not only to have a very real basis in that original feast but is possibly the best thing to base national sentiment upon.
Hello there,
I was wondering if the Irish celebrated Thanksgiving or not so i googled it and this is where it took me..
I just felt compelled to add that Thanksgiving is also a holiday in Canada. Although the canadian thanksgiving is celebrated in early october whereas the american takes place sometime in november. It is a holiday that we take off one day of the week (monday) but usually people have their dinners on sunday.
Liz - How USA-centric of me *laugh* Wow, it looks like there are loads of “original” Canadian thanksgivings according to this site.
Funny the national holiday wasn’t set in stone until 1957. You’re fortunate not to have such an arrogant stereotype to dispel while abroad. Our past thanksgivings here have included a couple of Canadian expats . . . funny they never mentioned it was a native holiday for them as well - perhaps they thought we knew? *laugh*
Sean
That’s ok! I forgive you.
Canadians usually seem to get overshadowed by our neighbours in the US.
I will definitely check out that site.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! (It is this weekend)
I, too, wondered if Thanksgiving was commemorated in some form in Ireland and googled it to find out. This site is what came up. Interesting! And you found turkey and all the trimmings at Dunnes Store. Are you still celebrating with turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie?
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We are proud to have you both as ambassadors to gluttony for these united states
Have agreat Thanksgiving!! Darren, Regina, and Phillip