Festivals, Sacred Rituals, Religion

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Peru!

Peru celebrates many days devoted to saints from the Catholic pantheon, but not much fuss is made here over St. Patrick, one of Ireland’s three santos patronales. He is credited with converting the Irish populace to Christianity, a struggle that is symbolized visually as St. Patrick casting down a mass of wriggling snakes (the Irish “heathen” — see above).

You won’t find green beer flowing from the taps in Lima pubs as you do in U.S. cities with large Irish-American populations, such as Boston, Albany and Philadelphia. And you certainly won’t find Limeños parading around the downtown Plaza de Armas dressed in green and sporting buttons that read, “Besame. Soy Irelandesa.”  

What you will find in Lima are a few Anglo-styled bars serving up beer and canned Irish music and, in one instance today, a St. Pat’s Day wet t-shirt contest. (No, I’m not providing a link. Do your own Google search.)

If you want Guinness and a more authentic Irish pub scene, you’ll have to travel to Cusco. Right on the Plaza de Armas is Paddy O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub (Calle Triunfo 124), a cozy spot that serves up the real black stuff and good shepard’s pie. The sign on the wall boasts that Paddy’s is the highest Irish pub in the world, but the altitude doesn’t seem to inhibit customers from tossing down pint after pint.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, my lucky friends in Cusco!

I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.

8 Comments

  • Pico

    Hehehe,

    I just finished a meal of corn beef, cabbage, and potatoes and I have to admit that I am very glad to be Peruvian because of the food.

    Then it got me thinking, if there was a Santa Rosa de Lima day parade in the US, what would be the traditional dishes?

    I like a good Pisco, but I don’t think we would get too far if we starting drinking it by noon. Better stick to the beer.

    Salud y feliz dia

  • Barbara

    Feliz dia, Pico,
    LOL. Corned beef and cabbage, the traditional Irish dish, isn’t exactly my favorite either.

    Hmmm — a Santa Rosa de Lima day in the U.S. What would the food be? If it were simply Peruvian food, the choices would be endless, of course. I think that maybe, though, a delicous meal would not be representative of Santa Rose because she loved to mortify herself. I doubt she was a gourmet.

    As you probably know, the Peruvian tradition of mes morado is gaining a following in the United States. I heard from a reader in Washington that there was a Sr. de los Milagros procession in downtown DC last October, and stalls were set up on the streets selling typical Peruvian food, such as anticuchos and maybe sweets, too. Food is def. associated with El Senor. 🙂

  • Pico

    Actually El Sr. de los Milagros also takes place here in NYC. There is a church in the west side in Manhattan that organizes the yearly celebrations and a fair amount of people show up for it.

    I went a couple of times, not for the religiousness of the event but for the food. That and maybe the possibility of running into some long lost friends.

    Saludos

    PS. Yeah, Santa Rosa de Lima was probably not a good example. If you get the chance, you should visit the celebrations for La Melchorita in Chincha. Very good food and a nice atmosphere, not crazy like in Lima

  • Ward Welvaert

    Happy St. Patrick’s day, from a Belgian guy who once met a Peruvian girl in an Irish bar 🙂

    There are actually 2 fairly authentic Irish bars in Cusco that I know of: Paddy O’Flaherty’s and, about 2 blocks from the Plaza de Armas, Rosie O’Gradys.

    Better not drink like you’re in Boston or Dublin though, the elevation here doesn’t agree with that.

  • Barbara

    Ward, I was thinking of you when I mentioned “lucky friends” in Cusco.

    I visited Rose O’G’s last year but there was no one there, so could not get a sense of the atmosphere. My band The Three Jacks was looking for a venue to play when they come to Peru in May (they’ve since opted to perform just in Lima and in Ica/Chincha).

    LOL, Pico, that you went to the Sr procession just for the food. I had a similar experience in Lima. I went to the church that houses one of the paintings of El Sr, and on my way out, there was a cart run by nuns selling chocolates and other candies. The chocolate was out of this world — I have never tasted better chocolate in Peru. I joked to El Fotografo that if there were a Catholic church in our neighborhood that sold chocolate that great, I’d be there every Sunday. (As you can guess, I’m not Catholic.)

  • Pico

    Shout out to Ward!

    Love Belgium beer. My faves are Brugse Tripel, Steendork, Steenbrugge Triple, and Manneken Pis.

    That with pommes frites with curry mayonnaise and Leonides chocolates, I am set!

    There was an idiot Ohio government official who got offended by the label of a little boy urinating and therefore all imports of the wonderful wheat beer have stopped in the US.

    Salud