Thursday, March 22, 2018

SAINT PATRICK'S DAY by Gloria Alden





I know St. Patrick’s Day is past, but I wanted to blog about it even though I don’t celebrate it, I do like it. I’m only one eighth Scotch/ Irish, but still feel it’s a part of my heritage. Maybe it’s partly because I’m Catholic, and know the history of St. Patrick.

Saint Patrick was a 5th century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. He was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century into a wealthy Romano-British Family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration, which allegedly was written by Patrick. According to the Declaration at the age of sixteen he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years there working as a shepherd and that during this time he “found God.” The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, where a ship would be waiting to take him home. After making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest


According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. The Declaration says that he spent many years evangelizing in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands. Patrick’s efforts against the druids were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove snakes out of Ireland. (Ireland never had any snakes).


Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick, and he became Ireland’s foremost saint.
I did visit Ireland once, but didn’t see his grave site, but I did kiss the Blarney Stone, though.
Over the years many Irish immigrants came to our country. They mostly settled in large towns where they could create Irish communities of their own.


St. Patrick’s Day has many parades not only in Ireland, but in other countries like our own.

Prejudice against Irish Catholics in the U.S. reached a peak in the mid-1850s with the Know Nothing Movement, which tried to oust Catholics from public office. After a year or two of local success, the Know Nothing Party vanished. Some historians, however, maintain that actual job discrimination was minimal. I remember reading that there were lots of signs on businesses that read “No Irish need apply.”

However, many Irish work gangs were hired by contractors to build canals, railroads, city streets and sewers across the country. I know that they worked on the Erie Canal in Ohio and had a lot who settled in Portage County and in the Cleveland area.
Irish Catholics were popular targets for stereotyping in the 19th century. According to historian George Potter, the media often stereotyped the Irish in America as being boss controlled, violent (both among themselves and with those of other ethnic groups) voting illegally, prone to alcoholism and dependent on street gangs that were often violent or criminal. (Sound familiar with today’s negativity towards Mexican immigrants?) Historian George Potter negated all those claims against the Irish immigrants. Maybe sometimes they got a little drunk and got into a brawl, but they were never involved in any criminal activity. They were hard workers and for the most part decent people.
Just a few of my many C.D.s

I may not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, but I love Celtic music and over the years went to a lot of concerts with Celtic singers at Happy Days Lodge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park and a few in Cleveland, and always bought one of their CD’s to listen to at home. And instead of watching TV in the evening, I read books and listen to music and many of the time a CD with Celtic music.


Much of this information came from Wikipedia and the pictures except for the pictures of some of my Celtic CDs were down loaded from a free site.

Do you celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day?

Do you like Irish music?


9 comments:

  1. In Chicago, my husband celebrated St Patrick's Day while I attended Murder and Mayhem. They dyed the Chicago River green by first spraying the dye from fireboats, then churning the water to mix the dye with a water taxi filled with bagpipers. Then it was time to find a spot for the two-plus hour parade of floats, marching bands, and politicians pressing the flesh in anticipation of the Tuesday Illinois primaries. While we ate dinner, lots of cheers for Loyola-Chicago. And as we walked back to the hotel along Michigan Avenue, several buildings were lit with green floodlights. Everybody on the street wore green (though temps were in the twenties), the beer flowed all day, and our hotel was packed with college students and marching band members.

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  2. it always seems that St. Patrick's Day events are very "beer inclusive". I wear green to honor my heritage but that's about it. I do love the traditional Celtic music but also love listening to Enya and the Gaelic songs of war. Really touching. -- Laurie

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  3. Always a fun celebration, even for this Italian-American.

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  4. I love Celtic music. Ireland is high on my list.

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  5. I love St. Patrick's day - It's always been special to me. My surrogate parents were Irish as Paddy's Pig as we said in the day, and my surrogate sister, Susie has the map of Ireland on her face. Tiger, Susie's dad, gave me a cartoon from the NY Daily News when I was in High School that he said summed up all I needed to know - it was a drawing of the Coliseum in Rome - two gladiators were talking and one said to the other - "The Irish are fighting and the lions are afraid to come out." I still have the cartoon. I smile every time I look at it.

    We used to go to the St. Patrick's Day parade in NYC and yes, drink green beer. The last parade I saw was when I worked at 580 Fifth Avenue - my office window faced 47th Street and it opened, so when I heard the parade, I opened the window, and sat on the ledge leaning out far enough to watch the marchers. It was great fun.

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  6. I'm Irish through my father's side, but we had muted celebrations at home (my German mother fixed corned beef and cabbage, although it was far from her favorite, and she made Irish soda bread.) However, on the several occasions when we were with our Irish relatives on the special day, they pulled out all the stops.

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  7. Margaret, how fun that must have been. I love hearing bagpipes, but don't often hear them except on some of my Celtic CDs. Actually, I've never been to an Irish Day parade. I don't remember there ever being one around here.

    Laurie, I wore green on St. Patrick's Day when I was teaching. I didn't even think of it this year.

    Grace you must live near where they have the celebrations and Parades. Unfortunately I don't.

    Warren, when I spent one day in Ireland, we stopped at a pub where Irish musicians were singing. I loved it. When I went to the bar, I ordered a cup of coffee. I was asked if I wanted Irish coffee not knowing it came with whiskey or some other alcohol beverage with it. Not the way I like my coffee. I do want to go back to Ireland and spend more time there, too..

    Kait, what wonderful memories you have. We didn't have enough Irish in our background to celebrate it at all. I'm glad you didn't fall out of the window.

    KM, how nice that you had Irish relatives to celebrate with. My grandmother on my mother's side was half English and half Scotch/Irish but it wasn't enough to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

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  8. Hi Gloria - I do love Irish music and especially Irish step dancing. Went to Ireland last year and would love to go back - the people are delightful. My husband's family is Irish and I felt like I was seeing his relatives all the time we were there.

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  9. Shari, I'm always fascinated by Irish step dancing when Happy Days Lodge at Cuyahoga National Park brings in Celtic singers or Irish step dancers. So much energy they have, and I can't stop tapping my feet as I watch them.

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