St. Patrick's Day Countdown: Crisp Sandwich?
Written by Ciaran on Mar 17, 2026 | 0 Comments
It's the last day of our countdown to St. Patrick's Day - the big day has finally arrived! From all of us here at My Irish Jeweler would like to wish you a very happy St Patrick’s Day from Dublin!
If you would like to share St. Patrick’s Day greetings in Irish this year, one of the most common ways to say that would be Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit, which translates roughly as Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you when you are speaking to just one person. To pronounce it, you would say something like ‘Law leh Paw-rik Sun-uh gw-itch.’
My personal favorite is the slightly more traditional Irish greeting “Beannachtaí na Féile Padráig Ort”. This literally translates as Blessings of Patrick’s Festival Upon You or To You.
Now, for our final potato-y entry for our countdown, I couldn’t help but include one of my favorite potato-based snacks. This is usually reserved for a Christmas treat in our house, but I’ve been known to enjoy it at other big events, including weddings, family picnics, and yes, St. Patrick’s Day, too!
Even though it is more of an assembly job than a true recipe, it goes VERY well with a pint of Guinness, and given that the crisp sandwich is an Irish institution and is certainly potato-based, it would be remiss not to include it in our countdown!
This is a rather posh crisp sandwich with "fancier" bread than most!
An Irish invention
The other big reason this tasty snack deserves a spot in our countdown is that the key component (flavoured crisps, or chips to our North American friends) is an Irish invention.
The brains behind the flavoured crisp were Joe ‘Spud’ Murphy, who founded Tayto Foods in Ireland in 1954. Before Joe and Tayto, most crisps in Ireland were imported from the UK and came with just a small bag of salt to add interest to the unflavored potato chips in each packet. Seeing that this was an entirely unsatisfactory state of affairs, Joe set up his own factory just off Moore Street in Dublin’s city center where crisps were made with the flavouring already added. Ingenious!
There is no Tayto factory to be found on Moore Street today, but there is a bustling market, so it is still well worth a visit for those that find themselves in Dublin City.
Photo Credit: Marek Ślusarczyk ( CC BY 2.5)
Joe started with Cheese & Onion as the first flavour offering, the original and best in my humble opinion, before adding Salt & Vinegar to the Tayto range in 1966. In the ensuing 70+ years, Tayto, and Ireland’s answer to Potato Pete, Mr Tayto, have become Irish icons for people here on the island and overseas.
Opened in Ireland in 2010, Tayto Park was the only amusement park we know of in the world branded around crisps! As well as riding a few rollercoasters, visitors could meet Mr Tayto and take a factory tour, with complimentary bags on exit for the journey home! Sadly, the park rebranded in 2023, so no more crisps... but still plenty of fun to be had.
If you fancy sampling this delight on St. Patrick's day, the very simple "recipe" is below!
Ingredients (makes one crisp sandwich)
- 2 slices of soft white sliced bread - whatever type you like, so long as it's soft. In Ireland, Brennan's Bread is traditional.
- 1 x packet of crisps - cheese and onion crisps are the traditional choice, and there are all-out scraps among people in Ireland over whether it is Tayto Cheese and Onion or King Cheese and Onion that makes the best sandwich. Either will do. If you can't find cheese and onion, sour cream and onion will work in a pinch.
- Irish Butter - Kerrygold or whatever you can get your hands on! This ingredient is all important as without it the whole affair would be a little dry.
Method
- Add a generous spread of butter on each slice of bread - this will add the moisture, and as I said above, without it you are in for a DRY sandwich.
- Open your packet of crisps and carefully pour them out onto one of the slices, butter-side up.
- Take the other slice of bread and carefully lower it onto the crisps, butter side down.
- Mash the crisps down a little with your hand, so it all holds together
- Eat!
Below is a controversial clip of Jamie Dornan demonstrating the techniques involved, making his version of a crisp sandwich for Jimmy Kimmel (about 9 mins 50 seconds in if you want to skip).
This clip caused mock outrage in Ireland when it first aired for his use of mayo instead of butter, and the highly irregular addition of ham! But we salute him for making the crisp sandwich his own and sharing this wonder with the world! Good man, Jamie!
What's Next
We're finished our countdown but if you missed any of our posts from the past 17 day or would like to find them again we've included a link to them below. Thank you for joining us on this little adventure - it's a real joy to connect with our friends around the globe.
- Day 1: Ireland and Potatoes
- Day 2: Breakfast Boxty
- Day 3: A hug in a bowl
- Day 4: Irish seafood chowder
- Day 5: Potato Crepes and Asparagus
- Day 6: A Divisive Dublin Dish
- Day 7: Irish Stew
- Day 8: Shepherd's Pie
- Day 9: Spice Bag
- Day 10: Roasties
- Day 11: Potato bread take two
- Day 12: Colcannon
- Day 13: Champ
- Day 14: Fox in the Bag
- Day 15: Potato salad
- Day 16: Potato for Dessert?
You may also be interested in some of the entries in our countdown last year where we went through several FAQs about Ireland and Irish culture. You will find those here:
- What connects St. Patrick and the Shamrock?
- What connects the Shamrock and the Trinity Knot?
- What is Ireland's official color?
- What is the official symbol of Ireland?
- What is Ogham? Plus 9 more answers about this ancient Irish invention
- What's Ireland's most beloved symbol?
- Who are Ireland's Patron Saints?
- What famous Irish women do we celebrate on International Women’s Day?
- Who or what are Ireland’s Warrior Saints?
- Why were brooches the ultimate accessory in ancient Ireland?
- What is Ireland's Gemstone?
- What is Irish Dancing?
- What are some traditional Irish Storie?
- What connects St. Patrick and the Celtic Cross?
- What are traditional ways to mark St. Patrick's Day?
- Where should you visit in Ireland?
Wear Your Heritage
Treat yourself to a piece of our stunning jewelry featuring an Irish phrase or word for a tangible connection to Irish culture. We've several designs that incorporate beautiful Irish phrases that may spark that grá (love) for the language.
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Ciaran
My Irish Jeweler
Born in Co. Antrim and reared in Dublin, I was fascinated with Gaelic culture from an early age. I suppose it's not surprising given my mother inherited a grá for the Irish language from my grandfather, an Irish school headmaster. And that grá continues! My brother and sister are now Gaelic teachers here in Ireland, my niece is an award winning Irish dancer, and I proudly work to share Irish culture through our Irish and Celtic Jewelry at My Irish Jeweler!
I love researching and reading about the history of Irish design. It's at the core of what we do here at My Irish Jeweler. I find much of it so interesting that I have to share what I find. I hope you enjoy it!
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