Happy St. Patrick's Day from Barb's Tea Service: We're celebrating Irish tea, Irish ancestry and Ireland!

Barry's and Bewley's are favorite Irish teas.

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day, a day where everyone is Irish! We're celebrating with Irish tea and a tribute to Ireland.

Last week, on our BTS podcast, co-host, studio engineer and arm candy, Chris - who does have some Irish roots - and I raised a cup of Barry's tea in honor of the upcoming holiday.  Along with a few Ireland tea facts, we shared a few of our favorite mostly tea-related memories of our family trip to the Emerald Isle in 2012.

We thought we'd bring some of that - and more! - to today's blog. 

First, the tea stats:

According to a January, 2025 article on the Luxury Life’s website, authored by Liam O’Conner, (who, I think by name alone, has a lot of street cred), here are some Ireland tea facts:

• Black tea is the most popular type of tea consumed in Ireland, typically enjoyed with milk.
• Leading brands include Barry's Tea and Bewley's Tea, known for their rich blends.
• Irish tea consumption averages about 2.19 kg per person annually (translates to 3 to 6 cups daily).
• Tea plays a vital role in social gatherings, symbolizing warmth and hospitality in Irish culture.
• Brewing techniques emphasize loose leaf varieties, with steeping times of 3.5 to 5 minutes for optimal flavor.

We found all this to be true when we traveled to Ireland. We never had a bad cup of tea and that's drawn from a wide sample of venues and regions from a Dublin jail to the home of Waterford crystal to a family homestead, all had a story to tell and a drink to share.

Afternoon tea at Westbury in Dublin

Tea in Gaol, with barred windows

Ireland, the trip

A little over 14 years ago, Chris and I  traveled to Ireland with two of our children, Matt and Rachel.

Our homebase was Dublin, at the Castle Hotel, a two-minute walk to the city's main boulevard, O'Connell Street. In Dublin, we had tea at Kilmainham Gaol, complete with the original barred windows, the upscale Westbury Hotel and a quick stop at Bewley’s. The latter was extremely crowded, but their tea was worth the wait.

Bewley's was crowded, but worth the wait.

Leaving the city for a grand tour, we stopped at Waterford, toured the factory and enjoyed a cream tea in their cafe.

From there we headed to Blarney, where we kissed the stone, then on to Cobh, where, at the time, we had our choice of two museums:  The Titanic Museum or the famine museum. 

We opted for a self-directed tour of the village and in the spirit of the Irish, we explored a church and concluded in a tavern, where we warmed up with not tea, but a comforting cup of Irish coffee.

Outside Blarney castle on the way to sad museums in Cobh

We did leave trains and busses and sad places behind later that week and spent a day driving by car north to explore family roots. Chris was the one who braved driving on "the wrong side" to a small village where his ancestors once lived. 

Waterford tea (beautiful chandelier in back)

Wateford factory tour.

The Whitcroft family, on Chris' mother's side, immigrated to Canada in the early 1800's (before the famine).  We were armed with maps, photos and a general idea of the homestead, but, we needed some local assistance, and, with the luck of the Irish, we found a pot of gold with Mrs. McNally.

Mrs. McNally joined us for tea and family history.

In the tiny town of Clontibret, (population of 166), near the church, was a convenience store with a small restaurant. We asked the woman behind the counter - who turned out to be the owner - if she had any knowledge of the Whitcroft family. Without a moment's hesitation, she told us to "wait here" and she'd go get her mother who knew a great deal of the town's history.

We didn't realize this meant the store's owner would leave the premises, get in her car, peel out of the parking lot and, five minutes later, return with her mother, Mrs.McNally.

Rachel and Matt in front of what was once the Whitcroft homestead.

Mrs. McNally joined us for tea in one of the small diner's booths and took in all of our Whitcroft documents. She gave us a textbook's worth of local stories and pinpointed where Chris' relatives once lived. With the information she supplied, we drove to the area where the Whitcrofts formerly resided. 

Rainbows, like pots of tea, are lovely and plentiful in Ireland.

It was a beautiful bucolic setting:  rolling verdant hills, grazing sheep and cows, and a hint of amber hued tree leaves. If that wasn't spectacular enough, as if on cue, a rainbow appeared. 

Although, as we learned quickly, rainbows, like a pot of hot tea, are not an uncommon, but always welcomed, site in Ireland.

Wishing you all a happy St. Patrick's day, filled with a bit of blarney, a bouquet of rainbows and 3 to 6 cups of hearty Irish tea!