“I gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all”

The Parting Glass – Ed Sheeran

In Ireland there is a gesture that precedes every true farewell: raising a last glass together with the person you are about to leave. The Parting Glass was born from this custom, a closing toast that gathers in a single sip gratitude for the time shared and good wishes for the parting path.

A ritual before a song

The practice far precedes the ballad that makes it famous today. In Irish and Scottish homes, at the end of the evening or at the end of a vigil, the final glass marked the transition from the company to the solitude of returning home: a suspended moment, no longer a celebration nor a farewell, in which what was received from others before going was acknowledged.

The ballad took shape in the seventeenth century from this custom The Parting Glass, which puts the same thought into verse: regret for the time that is never enough, gratitude for friends, sincere wishes for those who remain. For centuries it was the song that closed vigils in Scotland, before Auld Lang Syne supplanted it as an end-of-year anthem. In Ireland, however, it has retained its original role: it is still sung today at the end of the evening, at funerals, on every occasion in which a company dissolves.

A leave that doesn't weigh

What distinguishes Parting Glass from a simple last round is the intention that accompanies it. It doesn't celebrate the end as much as the bond that preceded it: drinking together one last time serves to take away something good, not to postpone an already inevitable separation. It's a way to publicly acknowledge what has been shared, before everyone goes their own way.

A legacy still alive

The tradition survives today well beyond the borders of Ireland, in every context in which a final toast accompanies a farewell, a transfer, the end of a shared chapter. Ultimately, it remains a simple way of closing well: not leaving what you feel in suspense, but entrusting it to a final glass raised together.

Mentha Parting Glass

Consistent with the origins of this tradition, Parting Glass is our closing event for the winter months. A way to meet again, listen to good music together and toast to a month that is about to end and to what is new to come, in the name of the best wine labels, good food and excellent company.