Had to Write a Blog to Educate Tara

Yeah, you know which Tara. Any other one, yeah, I love you too, but well, I've not been to your house. Or married your kid....

And then, there is that whole Current Issues and Events team, better known as "Current Events" dealie.

You be on my Current Events team and then win a medal, well, there will always be a special place in my heart for you there.

So, it sadden me yesterday when Tara mentioned she was now drinking Jameson Irish whisky with a pickle juice back. ( What kind of an abomination is that anyway?)

And she did not understand the meaning behind me asking her on Facebook, " You convert to Catholicism?"

It sort of made me sad....But then, most people didn't read about 15,000 pages of Irish history before they went to Ireland. ( When I was in in grad school Old Dr. Mackey would always say, to start to understand anyone's history, you need to read about 10,000 to 25,000 pages of a nation's history of various sources.)

In Ireland, old wounds still run deep, they even go into the whisky you drink.

Jameson, made in Dublin the Republic of Ireland, is drunk by Catholics. And the Irish Republican Army( IRA)

Bushmill, made in Bushmill, Northern Ireland, UK, is drunk by Protestants.( And Ulster Unionists)

This even carries over to the USA, especially in Boston and to a lesser extent, New York City. Still Irish ex-pats in those cities with IRA, Irish ties, they all drink Jameson.....and in America, Jameson will out-sell Bushmill's 9 to 1 on St. Patrick's Day.  

Heck, when went to Northern Ireland, we visited the Bushmill Distillery....and when we went to Dublin we did not go to the Jameson Distillery.

Nothing to do with the fact I am ordained a minister in one of the Protestant denominations that if you looked at their "roots" one of which would branch into Northern Ireland.

It was all economics.

Bushmill charged both of us, 10 Quid ( £10)for a tour. Jameson wanted 80 Euros for a tour of their plant. ( And Bushmill gave us free samples to taste, and a bunch of different mini-bottles to take home....Something to say about 'free'.)

And besides, I prefer the taste of Bushmill. Nothing to do with Catholic vs. Presbyterianism...

All this said, it's time to reunite Ireland into one nation. It's time, been time.The border no longer exists.   When we drove into Northern Ireland, we did not know until the speed signs changed to Miles Per Hour we were in Northern Ireland...about 20 minutes past the border. 

( Of course, I am teasing Tara.)