Happy St Patricks Day...

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... to you all with Irish connections, of which im sure there are many.

"So we walk the streets of London and the streets of Baltimore
And we meet at night in several Boston bars
We're the leaders of the future but we're far away from home
And we dream of you beneath the Irish stars"

Wolfe Tones - Flight of Earls
https://youtu.be/dAnh1CohMjM

[Meat Hunter]

Observation --
When one drinks yellow beer, one pees yellow.

Question... ?
If one drinks green beer, does one pee green?

[crease]

Thats a good question and one ive pondered myself. Unfortunately it too comes out yellow. Beetroot on the other hand...

[trilobyte]

Good morning, happy St. Patrick's Day! Being of irish heritage and having spent several years studying various aspects of irish history, allow me to share a few relevant nuggets.

First, the fun fact.... St. Patrick was not from Ireland. At the start of the 5th century, Patricius was an english-born Roman citizen who was kidnapped by one of my dead relatives, Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the nine hostages). Back in the day, the kings and chieftains would raid their rivals lands, and made a habit of taking hostages of anyone they thought was of strategic value (a relative of the rival, etc). It was all pretty civil, with hostages being fed and treated pretty well while held... and then they'd be released when the ransom (of livestock or whatever) was paid. Niall was something of a badass, and by the early 5th century he ruled most of southern Ireland (most "kingdoms" back then were roughly the size of a small county), and his guys were crossing the Irish Sea and raiding English territory. On one such raid circa 405AD, they came back with Patricius. That turned out to be an awkward situation, since Patricius wasn't part of a noble family, and nobody in England had any interest in forking over anything of value to get him back.

Once they realized they were stuck with him, they put him to work doing general work around the camp, and later as a sheepherder. Technically it was considered slavery (he was brought there against his will and he certainly wasn't getting paid), but he wasn't kept in chains or anything like that. After 6 years of this, Patricius finally decided to escape and return to his family. It's not clear whether his family had moved to Gaul (France) and he'd somehow figured that out, or whether France was just where his family was originally from, or whether he was just a terrible sailor, but basically once he got to the coast he got a boat to France (a couple accounts of the story claim he rowed it himself). There, he got religion and eventually became a missionary. When told to go forth and spread the good word, his first and only thought was to go back to the land he loved so dearly (which is an odd thing to think about a place where you were held hostage for 6 years), and he did just that. St. Patrick never killed snakes, or drove them out of the country (Ireland never really had snakes to speak of). The legend was metaphorical, as he introduced christianity that quickly became the dominant religion... driving away the various other belief systems.

The holiday we know has very little to do with St. Patrick (who died on 17th March). Old school/traditional marking of the day was done quietly, in church, as you'd normally expect a religion to mark the occasion of the death of one of its saints. Some in the states in the 18th century put a revolutionary spin on it, since both countries were fighting for independence. In the latter half of the 19th century there were a couple great famines in Ireland, and roughly half the surviving population fled the country looking for a better life. In the US, that meant suddenly many cities were flooded with broke-ass immigrants looking for work, racial tensions were crazy (especially with italian immigrants), and politicians figured that by celebrating the culture, it would help close the divide. On Columbus day in the fall, everyone was an honorary italian and they had a parade and people celebrated through food and drink... and on St. Patrick's Day in the spring everyone was an honorary irish and they had a parade and people celebrate through food and drink. Between organized crime ties and evolving views on Christopher Columbus, that holiday has fallen out of favor in many parts of the US, and St. Patrick's Day has evolved into the crazy pit of nonsense that we know and love (or hate).

One last interesting bit of trivia... corned beef and cabbage is not a traditional irish dish. It's a traditional irish american immigrant dish. The irish who landed in American and could find work were dirt poor, and corned beef was all they could afford for a big family meal. Cabbage was also cheap, and for bonus points could be cooked in the same pot.

Thanks for reading my ramble, I hope you get to enjoy the day in whatever way you like. Cheers!

[Lonesomebri]

Irish-Philosophy.jpg

[digital]

About 15 years ago I took a trip to my homeland and foolishly took a rock from the tomb of St. Patrick. (Dad loves cool rocks from unique places and I was young / stupid.)

Apparently, since I kissed the Blarney Stone I am exempt from bad luck but I hope to one day travel back and return it. So, here's to you, St. Patrick. I promise your stone will find its way home!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

[trilobyte]

Two fun memegraphics I've run across today...

[crease]

The holiday we know has very little to do with St. Patrick (who died on 17th March). Old school/traditional marking of the day was done quietly, in church, as you'd normally expect a religion to mark the occasion of the death of one of its saints. Some in the states in the 18th century put a revolutionary spin on it, since both countries were fighting for independence. In the latter half of the 19th century there were a couple great famines in Ireland, and roughly half the surviving population fled the country looking for a better life. In the US, that meant suddenly many cities were flooded with broke-ass immigrants looking for work, racial tensions were crazy (especially with italian immigrants), and politicians figured that by celebrating the culture, it would help close the divide. On Columbus day in the fall, everyone was an honorary italian and they had a parade and people celebrated through food and drink... and on St. Patrick's Day in the spring everyone was an honorary irish and they had a parade and people celebrate through food and drink. Between organized crime ties and evolving views on Christopher Columbus, that holiday has fallen out of favor in many parts of the US, and St. Patrick's Day has evolved into the crazy pit of nonsense that we know and love (or hate).

One last interesting bit of trivia... corned beef and cabbage is not a traditional irish dish. It's a traditional irish american immigrant dish. The irish who landed in American and could find work were dirt poor, and corned beef was all they could afford for a big family meal. Cabbage was also cheap, and for bonus points could be cooked in the same pot.

Thanks for reading my ramble, I hope you get to enjoy the day in whatever way you like. Cheers!

Had absolutely no idea of St Patricks Day's roots in the U.S, very interesting. Also had no idea that Cabbage and Corned Beef was associated with the Irish. I dont think ive ever eaten Corned Beef. Makes sense though as they literally arrived in the states with out a penny to rub together during the famine.

Something you might be interested in. While the day itself has always been huge in the South of Ireland it's only been in the last 7-8 years that its been recognised and celebrated publicly in the North were im from due to religious tensions with the North of Ireland being part of the U.K. I remember always finding it strange how St Patricks day was celebrated widely across the world yet when I grew up in you weren't allowed to celebrate it!

[Ratty]

March the 17th. Rest the 18th.

[ranger magnum]

Awesome bit of trivia, Trilo.

Not being of Irish decent, St. Patrick's Day for me simply means I cook corned beef and cabbage. Add some pearl onions, and let everything cook in the crockpot for about 8 hours. Of course I can cook this any time of year, but being somewhat of a traditionalist, it somehow tastes better on March 17.

And for some real useless trivia, there is an electrical contractor in town by the name of Craviotta Electric. They always take march 17 off of work, and it actually says "closed March 17" on all their work trucks, right under the 4 leaf clover they use as their logo. I remember I was on a job once, and they were the electrical sub. We had a tight deadline, and there was talk of firing them because of their no show on march 17. I don't remember the outcome, but I seen to recall something about there being legal issues for whoever canned them due to something about this being a religious holiday for them....

Does anyone know the significance of the four leaf clover, why green needs to be worn, or why if green is not worn, the offender gets pinched?

[theCryptofishist]

Hey! I've finally read this thread.