The luck of the Irish

Date: 17 March 2013 07:07:42

Saint Patrick

Forty blogs of Lent

Day 28

March 17th is the day when everyone's Irish. It seems to me that anyone who has ever drunk a pint of Guinness or a glass of Baileys has enough Irish in them to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I play a Bodhrán I bought in Dublin, and I enjoy Greenore whiskey, which is enough to qualify just for this one day. St. Pat's day could be a bit of a downer for the Irish this year, as after losing to Italy in the 6 Nations, they could be awarded the wooden spoon, depending on the result of the final game in France.* But who was this Saint, who's name is used as an excuse to dress in green and celebrate Celtic culture? Patrick was from Cumbria (or possibly Wales) but was kidnapped when 16 years old and taken to Ireland. For the next six years he was a slave, before escaping back to Britain. During this time his faith grew. After training as a Bishop, Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary, his methods were interesting. Using whatever came to hand, such as the shamrock, and using local cultural practices, lighting bonfires at Easter when the local custom was for bonfires at celebration. It is a pity that Patrick's legacy is wearing of green and making merry, rather than culture friendly evangelism. Though there's nothing wrong with either making merry or wearing green. ----- * Since I wrote this yesterday France beat Scotland, but not by enough points for Ireland to get the wooden spoon, so at least that's some consolation.