|
We bid you a very warm and Irish
to our page in honor of
St. Patrick, one of the few Irish St. Patrick's day
sites on the Internet .
The 17th of March is the Feast Day of
St Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland. St Patrick is renowned for many things. He
converted Ireland from Paganism to Christianity, He banished the
snakes, He introduced the Shamrock, He spent 40 days and 40
nights on a mountain in the then remotest, and most westerly
seaboard in the world, and
he gave us St Patrick's Day, a holiday celebrated in the four
corners of the World and most especially by anybody who can
claim the slightest drop of Irish blood. It is one day of the
year when we are all proud to be Irish, when the green beer
flows and the Shamrock is drowned.
If you have come to this page by accident link back at the
bottom to our home page to find out about us. If you followed
the links to get here you will know about us. We have a Pub and
Guesthouse in Westport, which is home to
Croagh Patrick, the Mountain made famous by
St Patrick.
Through this page we hope to show you a little Irish fun,
laughter and nonsense and link you through to a more detailed
study of both
Croagh
Patrick
and of St Patrick himself.
Enjoy!
Ireland is a rich
and rare land, full of natural beauty and a warmth in its people
found no where else in the world. It is renowned for its
welcome,
its scenery and its green land. Unfortunately, for the "forty
shades of green" we need the rain, and as one wit so rightly put
it, "It's a grand country if we could only roof it!" But nobody
comes to Ireland for the sunshine which is just as well as we
would hate to disappoint them!.
We are also known worldwide for our Folklore and of course for
the Leprechaun.
Every Irish person knows that Ireland is full of Leprechauns and
little people known as fairies. Leprechauns are easy to
recognize as they are about 2ft tall with rather cross faces and
they dress either in leather aprons with little turned up boots
and large hats or wear little green jackets and top hats.
They
can be tracked by the "tic tac" sounds they make with their
hammers as they sit under trees making shoes. When they are not
shoemaking Leprechauns love to dance and make music.
Michael Flatley "how
are ya" it takes an Irish Leprechaun to do a real Irish Jig.
Each Leprechaun is responsible for a Pot of Gold, and to say the
least of it, they are very wealthy indeed.
The Leprechaun stores his gold at the end of the rainbow where
he pays the fairies to mind it for him while he is off making
mischief.
It is everyone's wish to find the Leprechaun and have him take
them to the end of the rainbow. But the Leprechaun is a very
tricky guy and so far no one has succeeded. Many a man has
followed him only to be tricked before he got there. If you find
him, remember never to take your eyes off him. This is one of
the tricks of the Leprechaun. He lets you believe in him and he
is a very believable fellow and then, he distracts you and makes
his lightening getaway. If you blink for one second he is gone
and so is your dream of wealth!
If you like fairytales and ancient folklore Click here to go to
our pages on
Irish
Folklore and Poetry.
Lets leave aside the fun for a moment and take a look at St
Patrick himself and his journey through Ireland all those
Centuries ago to shed some light on what makes this day so
special for the Irish People. If you would like to find out
more, click on the Celtic knot to link to a history of the man
we call
St. Patrick including a look at the myths and legends
that surround him.
To read up on the history that surrounds our famous Holy
Mountain, Croagh Patrick, the mountain where St Patrick fasted
for 40 days and 40 nights for the salvation of the Irish people
click on the flower.
This section includes lots of
pictures so please be patient with the loading time.
AN IRISH MIX-UM-GETHERUM!
Ireland is renowned worldwide for its
food and drink and on St Patrick's Day it is important to keep
up our standards of cuisine but it is of course also important
that all things are green. Green beer, green eggs, green
cabbage, green bread - you name it, we will serve it green!.
Part of the St Patrick's Day celebrations is to celebrate our
World Famous, "Forty shades of Green". And the secret to our
success in this comes in a tiny bottle sold in all supermarkets
for less than 50p. It is of course green food colouring. What
better way to start the day than a bowl of green porridge
smothered in green cream and all made possible by the little
bottle of food colouring!
Or if you are not in a green mood perhaps you would like to try
an Irish Coffee which is very simple to make.
Irish Coffee.
Take a heated whiskey tumbler and add two spoons of sugar. Fill
to within 1 inch of top with coffee. Stir until sugar is
dissolved. Add one measure of Irish Whiskey and top with freshly
whipped cream poured off the back of a spoon. The secret of
Irish Coffee is to stir the sugar before you add the whiskey as
whiskey should never be stirred.
Another favourite is 1/2 dozen fresh
oysters with Guinness.
Open six fresh
oysters and serve on a bed of crushed ice, garnished with lemon
and lots of brown bread. Accompany same with a pint of black.
For more recipes with a strong Irish
Flavour click on the
leprechaun.
DID YOU KNOW?
1. St Patrick was an Englishman.
2. St Patrick’s Day is one holiday that is celebrated in every
country in the World, proof that the Irish have followed in the
footsteps of their Patron Saint and traveled to the four corners
of the Earth.
3. St Patrick’s Day is very special at the Empire State Building
as Construction of this famous landmark began on St Patrick’s
Day, March 17 1930. An Irish – American, ex-governor of New
York, was the highly glamorous front man for this building
project, and was elected president of Empire State. In tribute
to his Irish Ancestry, Al Smith requested that the ironworkers
(who were ready to set steel on March 8th) delayed the start
until March 17th. The World famous tower lights of the Building
are turned off every night at midnight with the exception of New
Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and
yes, St Patrick’s Day, when they are illuminated until 3am.
4. Scientist have proven that there were never any snakes in
Ireland. The Snake was a symbol of paganism and this is what
Patrick banished from our shores.
5. When baptizing Aengus, King of Cashel, in 445, St Patrick
stuck the spike of his crosier through his new convert’s foot.
When later asked why he had not cried out, Aengus replied that
he thought it was part of the ceremony.
6. The bones of St Valentine, whose day is celebrated on 14th
February, are kept in the White Friar Church in Dublin.
7. Poitin making was declared illegal in Ireland as far back as
1760 when an Act of Parliament made the unlicensed distilling of
whiskey an offence.
8. Buttermilk and potatoes were the staple diet in Ireland
before the Famine and were said to have produced a nation of the
strongest and tallest in Europe according to a study done in
1830.
9. Of the “Coffin Ships” which carried the Irish to the New
World during the Famine years, fire, collision or storm sank 60.
One in five of the passengers who
actually made it across the Atlantic died from diseases picked
up on the journey.
10. The Irish Tenor, John McCormack was
the first singer to earn more than one million dollars
AN IRISHMAN'S PHILOSOPHY
"In life there are only two things
to worry about, either you are well or you are sick.
If you are well, there is nothing to worry about, but if you are
sick, you have two things to worry about: either you will live,
or you will die.
If you live, there is nothing to worry about, if you die, you
have two things to worry about:
either you go to heaven or to hell.
If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about, but if you
go to hell, You'll be so busy shaking hands with your friends,
you won't have time to worry!"
May your glass be ever full,
May the roof over your head be always strong
And may you be in heaven
Half an hour before the devil knows your dead.
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.
May your neighbours respect you
Trouble neglect you
The angels protect you
And heaven accept you.
May your pockets be heavy and your
heart
be light
May good luck pursue you each morning and
night.
|
Contact
Pat or Mary