You might think you’re giving a nod to tradition with a fried breakfast or a few pints of stout this Thursday — but the diet of St Patrick himself was a little healthier. And the great man’s fifth-century menu is right back in vogue.

If there is one thing worse than having to go through St Patrick’s Day and all its tacky manifestations every year, it is surely having to do it twice.

The organisers of Cork’s St Patrick’s Festival have launched a robust defence of the event, insisting that it’s a safe, family-friendly event which prohibits the promotion of alcohol.