I'm Wearing Green Today!

shamrock boutonierre from marthastewart.com

I had another idea for this post, but I will put that aside for St. Patrick's day, put on the green and celebrate my deep Irish heritage.  By deep, I mean I have to dig a little deeply to find my bit of Irish heritage.  Nevertheless, I have always felt an affinity for the Gaelic territory of my Irish ancestor, my mother's grandmother on her father's side. 

My great-grandmother Mary was born some time around 1881 (my sister reminded us all in the family in an email this morning) in the city of Letterkenny, which is in County Donegal in the Ulster Province of Northern Ireland. 



Letterkenny in 1910

Mary married my great-grandfather, a Scotsman, and they emigrated to Canada.  This great grandmother is the only Irish ancestor on both sides of my parents' families that I know of, and even her ancestors were originally from Scotland.  Even so, she was Irish and it is due to this strand of lineage that I feel justified in celebrating this day, as I always have.  (Incidentally, the unique shape of mine and my mother's nose came from that Irish/Scotch branch of the family, as I found out when my mom showed me photos of my great-grandparents.)

Usually I like to celebrate St. Patrick's day by going to a dance.  A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I spent the night dancing our socks off to the Gaelic/Latin/Funk band The Paperboys, and since we didn't make it to hear the fiddler April Verch last Friday night, I have decided that The Paperboys dance was my official St. Patty's day dance, albeit early.  Today, I am wearing green and very much looking forward to the landscape around me doing the same.  St. Patrick's day is always a wonderful sign of the fullness of the spring to come. I present the following ten reasons to love the Irish by way of tribute to this day which has been embraced by people in many corners, even by the orthodontic office where my daughter had her braces re-tooled this morning.  It was decorated with shiny foil shamrocks all over the place.

One Canadian's Top Ten Reasons to Love the Irish  (in no particular order)

1)   The Commitments soundtrack (I think the D.J. played 'Mustang Sally' every night at the night club where I danced with my friends in the 1980's)

2)  Guinness stout.  Mmmmmmm.....although I didn't appreciate it until about ten years ago

3)  U2  (see here for an account of the time I finally saw the band live after being a fan since 1984)

4)  The Humble Shamrock.  St. Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the concept of the three-in-one Holy Trinity when bringing Christianity to the Irish.  I believe the shamrock is also a symbol of the luck o' the Irish, at least here in Canada.

5)  Irish Film.  There is something magical and mystical about the Irish films I have had the pleasure to see.  Some of my favourites include Once, Three Boys (and girl) from County Clare and Into the West, and as I stated above The Commitments.  A rich sense of humour, and often plenty of swearing, is also evident in these films.

6)  Fr. Ted.  We love this show about three very unlikely priests from Craggy Island. 

7)  Irish music.  When I'm in the mood I love to listen to some good, traditional fiddle and harp-centric music.  The Chieftains are a favourite, as well as the grittier, more modern sounds of The Pogues and The Waterboys.

8)  Irish history.  Often sad and full of conflict...but fascinating!

9)  The Irish accent.  It is lilting and musical and probably one of the most fun accents to attempt to imitate.

10)  St. Patrick's Day!

Erin go bragh! 

I cannot seem to find a source for the photo above of Letterkenny in 1910.  I just found it on Google images.  I apologize to whomever it is credited.