Posted by olvlzl.
My mother’s uncle Jimmy was a hopeless alcoholic after being discharged from the army in World War One. As a result both my grandparents and parents were tea-totalers. Coffee, actually. So I never grew up with the stereotype Irish drinking culture that has become the unfortunate celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in the United States. I never understood how you could dye stout green, anyway.
There are some good Irish resources on the web.
Irish language: My people coming from Cork I’d rather be able to give you a Munster dialect resource but these Ulster Irish lessons from the BBC in Northern Ireland are pretty good. You might enjoy watching these cartoons too, though I doubt you’re going to learn much language from them. I’ve watched the Welsh and Scots versions and think the voice actors in the Irish ones are funnier.