SC - Irish period recipes??

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

And it came to pass on  5 Nov 97, that Tyrca at aol.com wrote:

> I would really love to know as well.  I want to know what they ate
> before corned beef and potatoes.  I want to feed it to my family, if
> possible.

AFAIK, there are no period Irish cookbooks.  It is possible to learn 
something of what the early Irish ate.  Historical accounts, such as 
lives of various saints, mention various foods. Saint Brigit was a 
dairymaid, for example, and miraculously produced endless quantities 
of butter on at least one occasion.  I believe that Gerald of Wales' 
_History and Topography of Ireland_ discusses food a bit, but I can't 
find my copy.

Looking through _The Illustrated Archaeology of Ireland_, I find the 
following foods mentioned:

Mesolithic: Irish hare, wild pig, thrush, pigeon, eel, salmon, trout, 
hazelnuts

Neolithic: cattle, sheep/goats, pigs, wheat, barley, fish, deer, 
wildfowl, nuts, berries, crab-apples

Bronxe Age: flax (oil)

Iron Age: Oats, rye

Unfortunately, the book has almost nothing to say about food in the 
periods that are of greater interest to us.  I would assume that the 
Vikings and later, the Normans, introduced some of their foodstuffs 
to Ireland. 

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper @ idt.net
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