Today is St. Patrick's Day. This is the day we celebrate....all things Irish and, by association, the color green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green or orange, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink and attending parades.
Interesting Fact:
The color for St. Patrick's Day used to be blue. During the 1750s, the color was changed to green because people would wear a green shamrock. St. Patrick would use the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-christian Irish. Green is the color most associated with Ireland.
Some of the many Irish contributions:
1. James Joyce--1882-1941. I have read the two short stories "Araby" and "The Dead". My Advanced Writing professor at BYU-Idaho loved James Joyce. I am not a big fan of James Joyce. I thought "The Dead" was confusing and I didn't really follow what was going on as I read. James Joyce graced the cover of Time magazine on Jan. 29 1934 and May 8, 1939. He was named to the "Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century".
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish--Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade. The universities third president was a famous Irish Brigade chaplain. This is where they get the nickname, "The Fighting Irish."
3. Lucky Charms-- "They are magically delicious!"
4. Luck of the Irish-- This is actually a sarcastic term. If you had the "Luck Of The Irish" you had very bad luck. It was termed, again as I was told, when the potato famine hit Ireland. The farmers were just starting to gain some Independence from Britain when infested potatoes were planted and killed the entire crop.
5. "Riverdance" or Irish Stepdance--The cool dancing where the dancers only move their legs. "One explanation for the unique habit of keeping the hands and upper body stiff relates to the stage. In order to get a hard surface to dance on, people would often unhinge doors and lay them on the ground. Since this was clearly a very small "stage", there was no room for the movement of the arms." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_stepdance)
Interesting Fact:
The color for St. Patrick's Day used to be blue. During the 1750s, the color was changed to green because people would wear a green shamrock. St. Patrick would use the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-christian Irish. Green is the color most associated with Ireland.
Some of the many Irish contributions:
1. James Joyce--1882-1941. I have read the two short stories "Araby" and "The Dead". My Advanced Writing professor at BYU-Idaho loved James Joyce. I am not a big fan of James Joyce. I thought "The Dead" was confusing and I didn't really follow what was going on as I read. James Joyce graced the cover of Time magazine on Jan. 29 1934 and May 8, 1939. He was named to the "Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century".
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish--Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade. The universities third president was a famous Irish Brigade chaplain. This is where they get the nickname, "The Fighting Irish."
3. Lucky Charms-- "They are magically delicious!"
Hearts, stars and horseshoes!
Clovers and blue moons!
Pots of gold and rainbows!
And me red balloons!
Clovers and blue moons!
Pots of gold and rainbows!
And me red balloons!
During the 1990s you could buy Lucky Charms in the UK, including Northern Ireland, but you can no longer buy it there. It has to be specially ordered over the internet. Even though this cereal has nothing to do with Ireland, it has Irish references. The cereal plays off of the saying, "The Luck of the Irish." Lucky the Leprechaun himself says you can double your luck with more clovers.
4. Luck of the Irish-- This is actually a sarcastic term. If you had the "Luck Of The Irish" you had very bad luck. It was termed, again as I was told, when the potato famine hit Ireland. The farmers were just starting to gain some Independence from Britain when infested potatoes were planted and killed the entire crop.
5. "Riverdance" or Irish Stepdance--The cool dancing where the dancers only move their legs. "One explanation for the unique habit of keeping the hands and upper body stiff relates to the stage. In order to get a hard surface to dance on, people would often unhinge doors and lay them on the ground. Since this was clearly a very small "stage", there was no room for the movement of the arms." (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_stepdance)
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