I was in Ireland with a group from church the last couple weeks. Our pastor, Father Martin, went home to County Clare for his annual vacation, and then joined us on our tour. I told him I had heard that in some Irish families in the past, Da sent the kids to the pub for a pail of stout. Martin got a little upset at that, and said it was a misconception brought on by Frank McCourt and Angela's Ashes. Many people in the West of Ireland seem to be more than a little upset by McCourt, and tend to blame him for all the misconceptions people have about the area.

Martin admitted that his dad would go to a pub for "a jar" - but what's a jar? Did people buy draft beer to take home, and how did they carry it?

For that matter, how about money? Nowadays, the Irish pound is called a "punt," pronounced "poont." It's divided into pence. Previously, Irish money was similar to the old system of British currency. What are the idioms and terms used to describe currency?

-Joe Offer-