By Alex Bridges -- Daily Staff Writer

"Everyone gets to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day," says Jack Rogers.

Rogers and his wife, Carol, moved to Frederick County from Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1993, bringing with them their Irish heritage — including what they eat.

"Not just St. Patrick's Day, but typical Irish is meat and potatoes and a vegetable," Mrs. Rogers says. "My husband won't eat any kind of casseroles or anything like that."

Rogers is a first-generation American whose family lived in Durrus and Baltimore, both in County Cork, Ireland. Mrs. Rogers is half-Dutch, half-Irish, she says.

"We usually try to go to Mass that day. Then we have corned beef and cabbage," Mrs. Rogers said.

"We eat corned beef and cabbage early in March and to the end of March," her husband adds.

"By the end of March, you're tired of it," Mrs. Rogers admits.

Rogers says the traditional St. Patrick's Day dish didn't come about until Irish immigrants in America started to make it. He recounted reading that people on ships arriving to America would pitch highly salted beef they deemed too old or in some way not needed and the immigrants would pick up the meat and take it home. They would eat it only after boiling it for a long time and then seasoning it, he said.

Shepherd's Pie, however, does have its origins in Ireland, Mrs. Rogers says. Farmers who kept sheep meat a long time would then mix it with potatoes to eat.

Traditional Irish cooking also includes desserts like Irish soda bread.

In addition to her baked goods and other treats, Mrs. Rogers says she makes homemade Bailey's liqueur from a recipe given to her by an Irish woman years ago.

The Web site fabulousfoods.com lists a number of recipes for traditional Irish food and beverages for the holiday. Spotted Dog is similar to Irish soda bread; lamb stew; pan-fried salmon with sorrel, apple and scallion relish; pan-seared pork loin with Derry apple relish; Dublin coddle, a dish with bacon, vegetables and hard apple cider; Irish Champ, which is made of potatoes and green onions; ham steaks with Irish whiskey sauce; and colcannon, which is kale, potatoes and leeks.

Desserts also are included.

But the day isn't all about food and drink. Many people in the Irish community keep in touch with their traditions through one local group's efforts.

Rogers is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians — the Romans dubbed the island Hibernia centuries ago. The Order formed in Ireland about 300 years ago to keep the Catholic faith and tradition alive as England occupied the country after the reign of King Henry VIII.

Irish immigrants formed the first chapter in the United States in New York City in 1836, according to literature from the local group. The organization today serves as more of a socio-political group, Rogers says. Mrs. Rogers is a member of the ladies' version of the group.

One social aspect comes out on, or at least near, St. Patrick's Day, when the order holds a fest at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Winchester. The event features Irish dancing, a fiddle-player performing traditional music, and, of course, food and drink. Rogers said the celebration has grown to host more than 150 people in the church's auditorium. While they used to prepare the food themselves, Mrs. Rogers says, this year Castiglia's Restaurant will cater the event, which is sold-out.

The Irish holiday was so named for Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, and legend has it that the man drove all the snakes from the country.

The day, however, has a different meaning for many people.

"St. Patrick's Day is a day really of music, food, good Irish beer," says Brian Coughlan, owner of The Irish Isle in Middletown.

Coughlan doesn't dare dye his beer green, though.

"It's sacrilege," he says, in an Irish accent. "If you did that in Ireland, you'd be shot."

Coughlan came to the United States in 1973 from Limerick as a folk singer who traveled the U.S., Canada and Europe, before deciding to settle down in the Northern Shenandoah Valley. He opened The Irish Isle four years ago with a desire to have his own place.

"I brought something, I think, important to the valley because we're the only real Irish pub in the valley itself," Coughlan says.

Most of the Isle's beer taps feature imports from Ireland. Coughlan devotes half of his menu to typical Irish fare and the rest to more American options.

"We serve, of course, corned beef and cabbage," he said. "Our corned beef is really, really good. We spend a lot of time — it takes a lot of time to cook properly."

Fish and chips — or french fries in America — is a popular dish, as is Shepherd's Pie, which he said he must make several times a week to keep up the demand.

The pub's Irish breakfast, served all day, also draws attention. That includes Irish sausage, black-and-white pudding, and rashers, or Irish bacon, he said, as well as eggs and chips.

The Irish Isle has been booked for about month for St. Patrick's Day, Coughlan says. But the restaurateur offers the menu all week and expects crowds in the days leading up to the holiday. The pub also has live music five days a week, with Coughlan playing three of those days.

Ireland also has its desserts. Coughlan's pub serves nana, which he described as an apple-based treat made with cider and cinnamon. Nana is the Irish word for grandmother, he said, while Da, or grandfather, is a chocolate dish. The Isle also has the popular bread pudding, which he makes with Irish whiskey and brandy, though the alcohol is cooked off in the process.

Aside from the food, drink and music, many people of Irish descent, like Coughlan, look to St. Patrick's Day as an embodiment of their heritage.

Many people in Ireland attend Mass that day and, more recently, line city streets across the country to watch the parades. Celebrations have gained more publicity in the past 20 years or so, Coughlan says, and have come to include parties and more revelry at the bars and pubs. He says it is more festive now than when he was younger.

"It's just a yearly reminder, really, of where I come from," he says. "It's a big, big day in Ireland that we're all really proud of, even though in Ireland it's a religious holiday."

For the Rogers family and others who put together the event at Sacred Heart, the night serves as an affirmation of identity.

"Rather than go to a local bar and drink green beer," Rogers said.

* Contact Alex Bridges at abridges@nvdaily.com