Immigrant
Recipe of the Month
Irish Soda (p. 176)
From July O'Leary
Anderson of Syracuse, New York:
Here is a treasured recipe for Irish Sodabread made by my mother, Nellie T, O'Donoghue
O'Leary, who came through Ellis Island in 1920 from the village of Rathmore, County Kerry,
Ireland.
My mother was a remarkable woman who was loved and admired by everyone who knew her. Hers
was the typical Irish story: a marriage arranged for the only son in the family
necessitating in the three daughters leaving the farm to find positions elsewhere. She was
sponsored by an uncle and immigrated to the U.S. A. She was hired to work in the home of a
prominent Buffalonian.
From an early age on, we knew that our mother was someone special. In the early 1930's, it
wasn't unusual to walk into our back hall and see a homeless victim of the Depression
eating on the steps.
Every holiday we would have one or two children from a local orphanage joining in our
celebration (we could never understand why they always wanted to stay inside the house
instead of going out to play). More often than not we'd have an elderly neighbor too, and
many's the time we'd have to deliver a basket with a hot turkey dinner in it to an ill or
confined neighbor before we sat down to our own. We'd take turns doing it. There were six
children in our family, but there was always enough food to share.
Mom was always there when there was a need. During the war she rolled bandages and worked
for the Ladies of Charity, sewing and making clothes for poor children. She was the one
who walked door-to-door, collecting money for the March of Dimes and signing up neighbors
to give blood and/or donations for other worthwhile organizations. If there was a
fund-raiser for the church or school she was either in the kitchen cooking the dinner or
working at the bake sale or card party.
She was an excellent cook, and whenever Confirmation was held in her parish, the pastor
would call her to come and cook the dinner for the Bishop.
Every St. Patrick's Day, after the parade, we would have about thirty people squeezed into
our little flat for a ham and corned beef and cabbage dinner with Irish Sodabread and tea.
She was the spearhead in welcoming new "greenhorns" and getting together the
members and friends of her Irish family. She would organize picnics and parties so that
they would have a sense of belonging in their new country.
Although she had little education herself, she saw to it that her six children had an
excellent education.
My mother was a woman of deep faith, a devoted wife and mother, and a loving, caring
person. Anyone who ever knew her would attest to the fact that she touched their lives in
a way they would never forget!
NELLIE O'LEARY'S IRISH SODABREAD
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick melted butter
1 1/2 cups raisins
2 tbsp. Caraway seeds
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/3 tsp. baking soda
Sift flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar; add melted butter and mix. Stir in raisins and
caraway seeds. Combine buttermilk, egg, and baking soda. Make a well in the center of the
batter. Pour liquid ingredients and stir into flour mixture. Place in large iron frying
pan, well-buttered. Use a knife to make a cross on the top. Moisten with melted butter.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for an hour, or until golden brown and shrinks from the side of
the pan.
© Copyright 1999 Tom
Bernardin, Inc.
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