Drinking . . . and Not Drinking in Dublin

We began our Beauty of Faith Pilgrimage to Ireland in Dublin, visiting its churches and its saints/saints in the making: St. Valentine-the Roman saint whose relics are at the Whitefriar Street church; St. John Henry Newman’s University Church where he delivered some of the discourses that became An Idea of a University; St. Lawrence O’Toole, medieval bishop of the city; and Bl. John Sullivan, a Jesuit with a gift for healing.

Dublin is also known for its drink. As author of The Beer Option, I had to explore this tradition, even if it was driven by Protestants at a time Catholics suffered under the penal laws. In the book, I drew from Mansfield’s The Search for God and Guinness, and it seemed wise to stop by Ireland’s number one tourist destination, the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness family ardently supported the Church of Ireland (helping to start Protestant Sunday school, restoring the formerly Catholic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and producing an international preacher in Henry Grattan Guinness), but also took good care of their workers, most of whom were Catholic, providing them housing, healthcare, good wages, and education.

Brewing does have a longer Catholic story in Ireland as well. St. Patrick traveled with a brewer during his evangelization of the nation. St. Brigid (who composed the great prayer for a lake of beer) and St. Columban both performed numerous beer miracles, especially the dividing of beer! At the National Museum of Ireland we encountered a brewing tub over a thousand years old, as well as an attempt to honor a great Irish saint at Glendalough with a mircrobrew (as the ancient monasteries brewed for their own consumption, as well as for the sick, poor, and guests). St. Kevin’s Red was quite good after a walk around the monastic city and two lakes of the valley (more on that later).

Watching over our pilgrimage, however, were two holy figures from Dublin to make sure we consumed in moderation (both of whom appear in The Beer Option). Fr. Theobald Matthew (1790-1856) formed the Total Abstinence Society to combat the sin of drunkenness and administered the pledge to over 3 million people in Ireland, and also traveled in Britain and the United States. Alcohol clearly falls within Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount: “If your eyes causes you to sin, pluck it out.” The other is Ven. Matt Talbot (1856-1925), who became an alcoholic at a young age, while working in a liquor store. He fell to such a level that his friends mocked him and refused to help him, causing him to wake up, go to confession, and take the pledge. He became a Third Order Franciscan, consecrated his life to Our Lady following St. Louis de Montfort, adopted strict penances, and spent his life serving his fellow, poor workers in Dublin.

The Catholic tradition embraces the festivity of eating and drinking, but within the context of fasting and friendship so that, as Paul says, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Our pilgrimage experience in Dublin testified to the right balance of drinking and abstaining, both witnessed by the saints.