St Patrick´s Day Across the World

Even though St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, this day is celebrated across the world. Many Irish people emigrated to the USA in the early c XX  and while they were outcasts at the beginning they become part of the establishment soon after the first president of Irish background was elected, John F Kennedy.  Not surprisingly the biggest St Patrick parade takes place in the streets of New York and it is bigger than the one in Dublin.

Many other American cities mark the day, watch this video and see how they do it  Chicago style.  After you watch it please answer the following questions:

• When and why did this tradition started?
• What type of dye do they use?
• How many of the interviewees know why they turn the river green?
• How many years has this tradition been going on?
• What colour is the dye powder?

The Irish are renown for the love of music and a drink down the pub, perhaps the one song everyone could sing along to  is Molly Malone, performed here by The Dubliners

The Irish have a reputation for their sense of humour. The TV series Father Ted reflects this, here is a clip from one the most popular episode when several Catholic priests find their way into a big store´s lingerie department while Christmas shopping  Enjoy their lovely accent too.

Answers to the Chicago river questions: In the early  1960s, while they were trying to track and trace illegal discharges of sewage, vegetable dye, 2 don´t know vs 3 who know, 46 years, orange

Irish blessing

May the best day of your past
Be the worst day of your future.

St Patrick´s Day

		St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17 to honor Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. Almost 1500 years ago the patron saint and national hero of Ireland was born to a Gaelic family who had migrated to Britain. For 16 years, Patrick lived a normal life as the son of a prosperous landowner and magistrate until he was captured and forced into slavery. Patrick spent 6 years herding sheep. He escaped and returned to Ireland to do missionary work.
History reports that he used shamrock leaves to explain the meaning of the Trinity. It is also stated that he drove snakes from Ireland, banishing the venomous serpents by beating his drum. St. Patrick died on March 17, 493 after bringing the Christian faith to Ireland.
	As the Irish emigrated around the world, they took the St. Pat’s celebration with them. The Irish heritage has had a profound influence on our nation. The St. Patrick’s Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick’s Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.

	SHAMROCK, a member of the clover family, was used by Patrick to explain the mystery of the Trinity, the three leaves of the shamrock representing the Trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). According to Irish legend, Ireland’s patron saint chose the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity of the Christian church. To this day the shamrock remains the national emblem of Ireland and is worn proudly by Irish people the world over on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).No one can agree on which plant is the shamrock picked by St. Patrick.

What’s good luck on Saint Patrick’s Day?Finding a four-leaf clover (that’s double the good luck it usually is). Wearing green. (School children have started a little tradition of their own — they pinch classmates who don’t wear green on this holiday). Kissing the blarney stone.

Blarney Stone The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney). The castle was built in 1446 by Cormac Laidhiv McCarthy (Lord of Muskerry) — its walls are 18 feet thick (necessary to thwart attacks by Cromwellians and William III’s troops). Thousands of tourists a year still visit the castle. The origins of the Blarney Stone’s magical properties aren’t clear, but one legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly. It’s tough to reach the stone — it’s between the main castle wall and the parapet. Kissers have to lie on their back and bend backward (and downward), holding iron bars for support. Can you imagine kissing something that has had people’s lips all over it for 500 years? Yuck!

Leprechaun Irish fairy. Looks like a small, old man (about 2 feet tall), often dressed like a shoemaker, with a cocked hat and a leather apron. According to legend, leprechauns are aloof and unfriendly, live alone, and pass the time making shoes…they also possess a hidden pot of gold. Treasure hunters can often track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker’s hammer. If caught, he can be forced (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure, but the captor must keep their eyes on him every second. If the captor’s eyes leave the leprechaun (and he often tricks them into looking away), he vanishes and all hopes of finding the treasure are lost.

The color green is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock.