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By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

Things will be looking green in Davie County on St. Patrick’s Day, with live music and Irish food available.

But how Irish is Davie County?

The name Henry McCulloh appears in the first paragraph of Chapter 2, right after a chapter on native tribes, of James Wall’s book, “History of Davie County.”

Sounds pretty Irish, right?

And like most of the first immigrants here from that part of the world, they weren’t really Irish, but Scots-Irish, the name given to a group of “Ulster Scots,” or Scotland residents who had moved to northern Ireland. It’s that group that first arrived in Piedmont North Carolina in the mid-1700s. They were Protestants. McCulloh’s father James was among those Ulster Scots, although Henry made his fortune in England.

It wasn’t until the 1800s when mass migrations of Irish catholics started to arrived in the United States.

This is from the book, “The Colonial History of Rowan County.”

“By the year 1745 the Scotch-Irish had established themselves in the fertile and well-watered area between the Yadkin and the Catawba, and previous to 1750 their settlements were scattered throughout the region from Virginia to Georgia. The Scotch-Irish settled mainly in the country west of the Yadkin. Among these immigrants were the Nesbits, Allisons, Brandons, Luckeys, Lockes, McCullochs, Grahams, Cowans, Barrs, McKenzies, Andrews, Osbornes, Sharpes, Boones, McLauchlins, and Halls. The Scotch-Irish have ever been known as a religious, brave, and liberty-loving people.”

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t officially celebrated in Scotland, but Davie County is turning green, with O’Callahans pub in downtown Mocksville getting it started with an Irish breakfast from 9-11 a.m. on Friday, with an Irish menu available throughout the weekend, and live music from Adam & Avery from 2-5 p.m. Friday and SoundKraft from 5-10 p.m. Russ Thompson will play from 6-9 p.m. on Saturday.

And yes, bagpipers will stroll through the pub from time to time.

Just up the street at The Station General Store and Taproom, W. Kiley Smith and Friendly Fire will play music from 7-10 p.m., with the Whatyasay food truck starting at 5:30.

COIA will provide the music starting at 5:30 p.m. at RayLen Vineyards and Winery.

And at 6 p.m., local favorites Down the Mountain will bring their music to Tanglewood Pizza in Bermuda Run.

Other restaurants and venues may also feature Irish specials. Check them out, down a pint of Guiness or green beer, but do so responsibly.