THE SHOALS-St. Patrick’s Day… a day for parades, the color green…shamrocks and “Erin go Bragh.” The ever-present leprechaun with his elusive pot of gold..find out how symbols we now associate with St. Patrick’s Day came into being, and learn about a few that are purely all American Apple Pie.
First we have the Shamrock….The shamrock, called the “seamroy” by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring. By the seventeenth century, the shamrock was the symbol of Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their rebellion of the English rule.
Ahh now we have the wee Leprechaun…..In the myth that explains the foundation of Ireland, it is said that the Celts, descendants of Noah, traveled to Ireland from Spain in the 4th century B.C. By the way, the Celtic people. The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is “lobaircin,” meaning “small-bodied fellow.” In Celtic folktales, leprechaun were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. leprechaun were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their much-fabled Pot-O-Gold.
And what of the Pot-O-Gold at the end of the rainbow…..Legend has it if you captured a leprechaun and kept your eye on him, he could not disappear. As a ransom for his release, he would reveal the location of his pot of gold. Somehow or other, if caught, the crafty leprechaun usually managed to outwit his captor by saying that the pot of gold was at the end of the rainbow (since it is impossible to find the end of a rainbow).
Ireland, a land without Snakes…..It has long been told that, during his time in Ireland, St. Patrick once stood on a hilltop (which is now called Croagh Patrick), and with only a wooden staff by his side, banished all the snakes from Ireland.
Erin go Bragh just what does this mean…….translated it means “Ireland forever.”
Green it’s not hard being green…..Green is associated with Saint Patrick’s Day because it is the color of spring, of Ireland which is called The Emerald Isle”, and of course the shamrock. Tradition dictates that if you don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s day, you should be pinched. Supposedly you are being pinched for nonconformity or perhaps to turn the pinched spot a bruised green. The custom was allegedly begun by the “wee folk.”
Until the 1970s, St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday. A priest would acknowledge the feast day, and families would celebrate with a big meal, but that was about it. St. Patrick’s Day was basically invented in America by Irish-Americans. Eighteenth-century Irish soldiers fighting with the British in the U.S. Revolutionary War held the first St. Patrick’s Day parades. Some soldiers marched through New York City in 1762 to reconnect with their Irish roots.
Corned Beef and Cabbage that is what’s for Dinner…Although a classic St. Patrick’s Day meal, corned beef and cabbage is more American than Irish. Irish Americans in the 19th century were mostly poor. The most affordable meat available was corned beef 
and as for cabbage….It’s a spring vegetable and it’s cheap.
Irish Soda Bread… While probably an American invention or at least a corruption of the Irish original, it is not made with yeast, but with baking soda, hence the name. Traditionally it includes raisins, or sultanas, as they are known across the pond, for sweetness.
Green beer, let there be beer…Not in Ireland anyway. Nobody would dream of fouling good beer with green dye. This is purely American in origin. Some person, most likely not Irish at all decided to desecrate beer in the name of St. Patrick. But the drink of choice on St. Patrick’s day is The Irish stout Guinness.
So Erin Go Bragh, wear a shamrock, drink beer and march in a parade celebrate Spring and being Irish and here is an Irish Toast to all of you from us at The Quad-Cities Daily :
May the Irish hills caress you;
may her lakes and rivers bless you;
may the luck of the Irish enfold you;
may the blessings of Saint Patrick, behold you.
