March 17 is a very special day, honoring the richness of Irish history, traditions, and customs. It is especially appropriate that, of those groups outside of the Emerald Isle itself, we in the United States of America should pay special attention to St. Patrick’s Day. Over nine times as many people of at least partially Irish ancestry – 34 million people – live in the U.S. as live in Ireland!
Of course, many people all over the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day who have no Irish ancestry – although the old saying holds that we are all a little Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
Most of the people I’ve talked to say they plan to wear something green on March. 17. I hope they do because St. Patrick’s Day deserves recognition – and because I don’t want my friends to get pinched! Some people have told me they feel covered because they have green eyes. However, I think this is something of a cop-out. I have green eyes but I try to wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day to show that I’m aware of the day and want to honor it.
My father told me he plans to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by settling down to a filling and tasty meal of corned beef and cabbage. This led me to look up corned beef and cabbage on the Internet. Lo and behold, I learned that this was not a dish traditional to Ireland! Beef was too expensive in past times to grace many Irish tables. They often served pork, which was cheaper, along with cabbage.
When a multitude of Irish emigrated to America, they found that beef was not as forbiddingly expensive here as it had been in the old country. Thus, corned beef and cabbage evolved as a specifically Irish-AMERICAN tradition.
Wherever in the world my readers happen to live, I hope you enjoy a Happy St. Patrick’s Day – and wear green!
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Denis said,
St. Pat’s in Boston is probably not much different than St. Pat’s in Dublin.
I’ll be enjoying my Black & Tans, good music, laughter, and good conversation with friends including MRAs.
The reality is that the feminists just can’t win in the end. Men everywhere are fed up with them.
You American women out there would do yourselves a big favor by joining our fight.
That way we will know who’s with us and whose against us.
Some day things are gonna get real ugly for the feminists.
And it’s not that far down the road.
I promise.
March 14, 2008 at 6:33 pm
stormbringer005 said,
March 14, 2008 at 8:09 pm
amfortas said,
1. St. Patrick was an Englishman. He went to help the poor and heathen. He was driven out of Ireland for a while by the Irish, as is the Irish way with anyone who tries to be nice to them, but went back and persisted. Very few Irish acknowledge his English origin. But then, most Irish are friggin’ lunatics.
2. Now that America has discovered terrorism, you’d think that the annual St. Pat’s day parade would no longer have collection tins for IRA terrorists. I used to totally pissed off seeing Americans eagerly giving money to Irish thugs and murderers so that they could kill their fellow Irishmen and any British troop that tried to stop them. Have Americans stopped beating their friends in this gruesome game of ‘let’s you and him fight’ so eagerly taken up by feminists?
3. That there are far more Irish in America than in Ireland is no surprise; there are more Irish almost everywhere than in Ireland. They did a successful invasion, distorting America’s British heritage. But the people in Ireland do not have - and never have had - any love for Americans. During WW2 when American sailors were bolstering the British with incredibly brave supply sorties across the Altlantic, running the gauntlet of Nazi U-boats, the Irish refused them access to their ports, even in emergencies, and saw hundreds and hundreds of American bodies washed up on its shores. They cared not a whit. There are a lot of uncared-for American graves in Ireland.
4. Frankly any American with an Irish heritage ought to feel ashamed. It is something to live down. Any American who tries to live up to it must be already really down.
5. I see Hillary is saying that her ‘International Politics’ experience includes bringing ‘peace’ to Ireland. Hah! There are now murderers in Ministerial positions in Ulster. Is this America’s future dealing with terrorists? Promote them to power? Is the Irish experience to be emulated by Muslims? The Irish have dug their way into the American psyche like a tapeworm. All you need is a Hillary to encourage them or someone named Hussein Obama to lead the way.
March 15, 2008 at 12:33 am
stormbringer005 said,
March 16, 2008 at 5:38 am
Squiggy said,
What? I’ll kill you and your whole clan! And strangle your puppies!
Now give me a green beer and go away.
March 16, 2008 at 7:10 am