AN HOUR BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD!
BY BOB SPARROW
I REALIZE I’M A DAY LATE (AT LEAST) AND A FEW EUROS OR POUND STERLINGS SHORT, BUT I CAN’T LET ST. PATRICK’S DAY PASS WITHOUT A TIP OF THE PADDY CAP TO THE IRISH. THIS BLOG IS WRITTEN IN LARGE BOLD LETTERS, AS IT’S THE WEEK AFTER ST. PATRICK’S DAY AND I KNOW SOME OF OUR FOLLOWERS’ HEADS MAY BE SOMEWHAT FOGGY FROM A BIT TOO MUCH OF THE ‘GARGLE’. I’LL TRY TO KEEP IT SHORT FOR YOU.
WHILE I DON’T SUPPOSE ANY OF YOU ARE THE LEAST BIT INTERESTED IN THE HISTORY OF ST. PATRICK’S DAY, SINCE IT PASSED LAST SUNDAY, I’M GOING TO GIVE IT TO YOU ANYWAY, AS MY OWN BRAIN IS A BIT FUZZY. THE MAN FOR WHO ST. PATRICK’S DAY IS NAMED, WAS BORN INTO AN ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY IN ROMAN BRITAIN AROUND THE END OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, AND AS A TEENAGER WAS KIDNAPPED BY IRISH PIRATES AND TAKEN TO IRELAND WHERE HE WAS A SLAVE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. HE EVENTUALLY ESCAPTED AND ENDED UP RETURNING LATER AS A MISSIONARY COVERTING THE RESIDENCE THERE TO CHRISTIANITY. HE DIED ON MARCH 17 AND THAT BECAME A HOLY DAY FOR THE CATHOLICS.
SO IT STARTED AS A VERY SOLEMN CELEBRATION, BUT WHEN IT CAME TO AMERICA IN THE 1760S, THE IRISH SOLDIERS SERVING HERE IN THE BRITISH MILITARY, HAD A PARADE . . . AND NO DOUBT HAD A COUPLE OF COLD ONES, MAYBE MORE THAN A COUPLE! BUT IT WASN’T UNTIL THE 1970s THAT PUBS IN IRELAND, WHICH WERE PREVIOUSLY CLOSED TO CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK DAY, BEGAN TO OPEN UP AND CELEBRATE WITH A PINT OR TWO. LEAVE IT TO THE AMERICANS TO TAKE A SOLUMN RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY AND TURN IT INTO A DRUNK-FEST.
I AM ONE OF 35 MILLION AMERICANS WHO CLAIM TO HAVE IRISH IN THEIR HERITAGE – 11% ACCORDING TO
ANCESTRY, AND I’M 57% ENGLISH & NORTHWEST EUROPE (I’M THINKING MOSTLY NORTHERN IRELAND!) SO, ON ST. PATTY’S DAY I FIXED MYSELF AN ‘IRISH CAR BOMB’, OOPS, NOT SUPPOSE TO CALL IT THAT ANY MORE, THAT’S POLITICALLY INCORRECT, IT’S NOW CALLED A ‘IRISH SHOT’. SURE, I’LL GIVE YOU THE RECIPE: PUT 1/2 OZ OF IRISH WHISKEY AND 1/2 OZ OF BAILEYS IRISH CREAM IN A SHOT GLASS AND DROP IT IN A PINT OF GUINNESS BEER. SHIVER ME TIMBERS!
A FEW, SOMEWHAT INTERESTING FACTS, ABOUT IRELAND AND THE IRISH . . .
- IN 1921, THE IRISH SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE AND IRELAND WAS PATITIONED INTO TWO COUNTRIES: THE IRISH FREE STATE, WHICH WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY CATHOLIC, AND THE SMALLER NORTHERN IRELAND, WHICH WAS MOSTLY PROTESTANT.
- ‘THE TROUBLES’, LASTING FROM 1968 – 1998, WAS THE NAME FOR THE VIOLENT SECTARIAN CONFLICT BETWEEM IRELAND AND NORTHERN IRELAND; IT IS OFTEN THOUGHT OF AS A RELIGIOUS WAR, BUT IT WAS REALLY THE FIGHT OVER WHO CONTROLED NORTHERN IRELAND, THE IRISH (MOSTLY CATHOLICS) OR THE ENGLISH (MOSTLY PROTESTANTS).
- THE ENTIRE COUNTRY OF IRELAND ONLY HAS A LITTLE OVER 5 MILLION PEOPLE. AS A REFERENCE, NEW YORK CITY ALONE HAS A POPULATION OF OVER 8 MILLION. BUT DESPITE ITS SIZE, IT HAS A HUGE PERSONALITY – THEY LOVE TO SING, DANCE, FIGHT, DRINK AND DRINK SOME MORE.
An Irish Toast
- LUCK OF THE IRISH – THE PHRASE ACTUALLY CAME FROM THE CALIFORNIA GOLD & SILVER RUSH, THE IRISH SEEMED TO BE ABLE TO FIND THESE ORES BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE. THE RARE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER IS CONSIDERED TO BE LUCKY AS IS CAPTURING A LEPRECHAUN, AS THEY ARE TYPICALLY ACCOMPANIED BY POTS OF GOLD AND RAINBOWS. OK, NOW I THINK IT’S THE IRISH WHISKEY TALKING!
- KISS THE BLARNEY STONE – YOU’LL SUPPOSEDLY RECEIVE THE POWER TO PERSUADE IF YOU KISS THE STONE OUTSIDE THE BLARNEY CASTLE IN IRELAND.
- THE CURRENCY IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND IS THE EURO, WHILE NORTHERN IRELAND USES THE POUND STERLING.
- AN IRISH GOODBYE IS MAKING A SNEAKY EXIT FROM A GATHERING WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE FIRST. AND SPEAKING OF GOODBYES, IT’S MY TIME FOR ME TO DO SO, AND I LEAVE YOU WITH ‘SLAN LEAT’ – IRISH FOR “GOODBYE AND GOOD HEALTH.”
ERIN GO BRAUGH, WHICH IS GALIC FOR ‘IRELAND FOREVER’. AND OF COURSE THERE IS ‘ERIN GO BRAUGH-LESS’, BUT THAT’S A TOPIC FOR ANOTHER BLOG.