Tasty pasty: Irish Fair revives old mining tradition

A mining tradition that can be traced back to 12th century Europe, the pasty satisfied the hunger of many a worker who had to eat their lunch hundreds of feet underground.

In what could be likened to today’s pocket sandwiches, the pasty featured different types of fillings inside of hardened dough. Miners who did not have the luxury of washing their hands underground could grab a hardened part of the crust – sometimes referred to as the handle – and eat the filling. When finished, they simply threw away the handle.

The pasty will take center stage on Saturday at the 14th annual Irish Fair in Libby. The event will feature a pasty-baking contest and will also be available for purchase from one of the food vendors.

“I guess it was the first fast food … transportable food,” said Bob DeBorde, Irish Fair co-chair. “It allegedly started in Cornwall, England but like anything else that started around the 1100s, everybody claims it.”

Quick research suggests that Cornwall seems to be the most accepted place of origin. Possibly the earliest known reference to pasties can be found in a literary work produced in 1170 by poet Chretian de Troyes. In “Erec et Enide,” Troyes writes, “Then Guivrey opened a cupboard and drew forth two pasties. ‘Friends,’ quoth he,’ come taste a little of these cold pasties.”

Despite the actual origin, Irish miners enjoyed pasties underground.

“In the morning, the wife would pack some food and would have a mixture of stew or something of that order, and also a dessert,” DeBorde said. “They would wrap it in these pasties. The miners would take them into the mine with them … and they would have their lunch.”

To differentiate which end was the “main course” and which end was the dessert, the pasty would be marked in some manner.

This will be the first year that the fair has featured the pasty in the featured baking contest.

“We’re going to try it and see how it goes this time,” DeBorde said. “They’ll be for sale … people can have the chance to try a pasty.”

The tradition of the pasty continued through the centuries and made its way over to America. In fact, miners in the Butte area are known to have enjoyed pasties.

“Butte is a big mining area and there were lots of Irish that lived in the Butte area and still do,” DeBorde said. “They have almost a weeklong celebration of Irish heritage. There were Irish here and what we find is when we talk to people – they may not be Irish, but maybe their grandmother was.”

In Libby, the celebration features an Irish theme but DeBorde said all enjoy it.

 “It’s more of a general community celebration than it is an Irish (celebration),” DeBorde said. “It just has an Irish theme, that’s all. We have nine or 10 people in the planning group and probably less than half are Irish.”

The Irish Fair dates back to 1996 when Dave and Carol Latham of Libby started it. More and more people became involved and the event continued to grow.

Staged at the Memorial Center, the arts, crafts and food portion of the fair will run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Crafts, food and books will be among the items for sale.

“We usually have 38 or 39 (booths) … we sell out the Memorial Center completely,” DeBorde said. “After the craft fair closes down, we put those moveable, graduated bleachers and that’s where the concert will be held.”

Free entertainment will be provided during the six-hour daytime block. The lineup includes:

• 10-10:30 a.m. – Libby Elementary Select Choir, a group of fourth- and fifth-graders that auditioned and were selected by musical director Lorraine Braun. The group will sing Irish songs.

• 10:30-10:45 a.m. – Kathy O’Leary, who plays accordion and guitar, composes many of her own songs. She has appeared at every Irish Fair.

• 11-11:45 a.m. – Beyond Help, a band that includes Lee Tonner on fiddle, Mike Powell on guitar and Tim Harcourt on bass.

• Noon-12:45 p.m. – Shaugnessey Hill band will play traditional Irish music.

• 1-1:45 p.m. – Treasure Tones under the direction of Phyllis Mackey.

• 2-2:45 p.m. – Patti and Scott Lennard.

• 3-3:45 p.m. – Tom and Laura Kitchen.

Raffles will also occur every hour and games and activities for the kids will be available.

Then in the evening at 7, Finnegan Ridge will take to the stage in the featured concert. A group out of Bozeman, the band has entertained with its Irish brand of music for more than a decade at venues throughout the Northwest.

The Celtic Cross Dancers out of Kalispell will also return to accompany the musicians.

“They have performed for us for two, three years and we’ve seen them evolve into a pretty nice, little dance group,” DeBorde said.

Ramona Baney will be a new emcee this year during the daytime activities. In the evening, DeBorde said Eileen Carney usually handles those duties. DeBorde is co-chair along with Sara Hedahl.

“It’s very relaxed and everybody has a good time,” DeBorde said. “At the end of the day, I’m exhausted.”

On the Net: The Libby Irish Fair’s website is: www.libbyirishfair.org

Libby Irish Fair

When: Saturday, March 14 – Arts, crafts, food, free music and more from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; evening concert and dance performance at 7 p.m.

Where: The Memorial Center, Libby

Evening Concert Tickets: Available in advance at Mountain Meadows Country Gift & Espresso Shop, Cabinet Books & Music and Rivermist Home Décor. They will also be available during the daytime portion of the fair.

Note: For more on Finnegan Ridge, see the Tunin’ In section in Friday’s edition of The Western News.