Traditions of the Past -Shrovetide or Pancake Tuesday??

Lent is almost upon us and it got me thinking about current practices and the customs and traditions of the past and not so distant past.
 Do you call  it  Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday?? When I lived in Munich I enjoyed  'fasching' or the pre Lenten festival and parades.   In Ireland our celebrations are a bit more low key and austere than the 'Mardi Gras' or Carnivals which take place in other parts of the world.

In the early Irish Church they observed 3 Lents -40 days before Christmas,  40 days before Easter and 40 days after Pentecost. In the monasteries these were occasions of severe fasting and it recorded that Mael Dithruib of Tallaght survived  on bread and water during these periods. Lay people were also expected to fast and abstain from fresh and salted meat and 'white-meats' .Foods such as cream, butter and eggs were called "whitemeats".  Pancakes were a great way to use up the surplus of these products to prevent waste. The fast before Easter was considered more severe but this in turn fits in with the farming cycle as grain stores and meat supplies declined and  milk production wasn't properly underway. Giving up chocolate or sweets as shown in this this  WorldIrish article seems a bit light weight in comparsion.

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday - Mairt Inide today is best known for having pancakes. In her article on epicurious Carol Wilson has some interesting insights into British Pancake Traditions which some what mirror Irish Traditions.'' Lent is a time of abstinence particularly dairy and egg products so pancakes were made to use up the surplus before fasting started.''   According to Carol ''Pancakes are probably the only traditional Lenten dish to survive throughout Britain today and it’s likely that they were developed from the small wheat cakes eaten by pagans in pre-Christian days, to celebrate the beginning of spring.''

Bridget Haggerty in her Irish CultureCustoms website lists some of her own Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday including the popular customs in Ireland regarding marriage. 'Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent) The word 'shrove' come from the verb 'to shrive' which means to forgive as people confessed their sins before Lent.'' In Irish it is know as Máirt na h-Inide -Inid comes from the word  Latin word initium quadragesimae which means the beginning of Lent. In the past the traditions was for people  to go to confession on Shrove Tuesday and be forgiven for their sins before Lent and is still done today but not to the same extent.


'Up to the 20th century in Ireland the period before Lent and particularly Shrove Tuesday was a popular time to get married. This was due to a misinterpretation of a Church ruling which prohibited marriage during Lent.  From the 6th of January until Shrovetide matchmaking took place in order to ensure that marriages took place before Lent. Those who didn't get married were the subject of ridicule and mirth on Chalk Sunday or Puss Sunday -the first Sunday of Lent. More about marriage customs in my Valentine Post and Chalk Sunday later in the week.

I haven't decided what I am giving up for Lent yet but I will enjoy pancakes tomorrow! Personally I tend to veer more towards savoury pancakes than sweet so here's a nice recipe from Connemara Smokehouse for some Chive Pancakes with Honey Smoked Tuna! Sweet & Savoury together! Find  more recipes for sweet & savoury by Darina Allen at this link. At this rate it definitely will be 'Mardi Gras' or 'Fat Tuesday!!