Charleston Walking Tours – Learn Why I Never Joined The Hibernian Society — Happy St Patrick’s Day!!!!!

This  being the season for the “Wearing of the
Green” I thought I might  take this time
to wish  my readers a Happy St Patrick’s
Day and relate to you the story behind why I didn’t join the Hibernian Society.

Hibernian Society Hall ,1840

Of course,
the Irish are famous for blarney, so, in the spirit of the occasion of the Holy
Saint,  don’t think I  might not be taking just a wee bit of
artistic license as I weave this tale of Irish revelry.1801. You see, my father, Bernard Ray, was quite the man about town and belonged to numerous clubs and societies, prominent among them the Hibernian Society, an Irish Fellowship Society founded here in 1801. As a young man with rising prospects
in the Real estate Industry, he strongly suggested that I join the Irish
Brotherhood since it would be good for business.

And so I
went with Dad  to my first meeting, where
the gathered company was excited to be served Eddie Lockwood’s famous
spaghetti. Now I knew this recipe, it was my mother’s, the very one she learned in Home Ec  class at Memminger: a few bits of tomato perched atop a bed of spaghetti noodles, a thin watery sauce pooled around the bottom of the plate. Manna from Heaven as a child, my brother’s girlfriend, an Italian girl by the name of Angela Bambino, had introduced me to her  Italian family’s rich and fragrant “Sunday Sauce”.

I was
unimpressed.

After
dinner, the festivities began, which consisted of shots! More shots! The brown
liquor was flowing!!! The goal:  throw
down til you fall down!  I remember few
names from the many introductions made that 
night but I distinctly remember the huge hangover the next morning!

My dear
father was disappointed that I was so unimpressed.  I never have had much of a taste for liquor.
But, at his insistence, I gave it another try.

At the
second meeting, I arrived with an open mind and enjoyed the fellowship. I found
myself getting into the “spirit” of the event, but as I was making my way to the bar on my hands and knees, someone stepped on my fingers. That  just struck  me the wrong way.

And that’s
why I never joined the Hibernian Society of Charleston… 

Charleston Old Walled City Tours offers themed tours od Historic Charleston including the Old Walled City Tour, the Home and Garden Tour, the Slavery and Freedom Tour, and the Charleston Ghost Walk. Go to www.walledcitytours.come to learn more!
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