St Patrick's Day

POSTED BY: peacekeeper
UPDATED: Monday, March 31, 2014 07:23
VIEWED: 3054
PAGE 1 of 1

PEACEKEEPER

Monday, March 17, 2014 12:37 AM

I have no idea what it is like in The States, but in the UK, the whole country seems to celebrate Paddy's Day, despite the majority of revellers having not a speck of Irish blood running through their alcohol ridden veins.Yet,St George's,St Andrew's and St David's Days pass almost unrecognised.???? Or is it merely because the Irish are just great at monumental piss ups???? I don't mind it, it just puzzles me.

REAVERFAN

Monday, March 17, 2014 12:45 AM

We do it up here, too. Green beer in all the bars, parades, and in Chicago they even dye the river.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/River-Dying-to-Mark-Start-of-St-P
atricks-Day-Weekend-250455091.html

WISHIMAY

Monday, March 17, 2014 1:08 AM

We're more Irish than anything else, so we just got our green on and our bling green....and went out for MEXICAN, HAH.
Since our weather is shit today, it was more like a funeral than anything else, and our waitress was an airhead

SIGNYM

Monday, March 17, 2014 1:32 AM

It's a holiday (holy day?) dedicated to DRINKING BEER! What's not to like???

Also- Cinco de Mayo... another holiday, that one dedicated to drinking tequila and all its variations. Another successfully transplanted holiday!

AURAPTOR

Monday, March 17, 2014 2:29 AM

It's kind of a big deal here in the States,especially for the 20-30 something crowd.

Savannah GA does it up big time too. Beads, green rivers, all manner of green hats, t-shirts,etc...

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

OONJERAH

Monday, March 17, 2014 7:43 AM

During the Mexican American War, Gen John C. Fremont militarily
acquired control of California, 1846, then occupied by about 4,000
Spanish-Mexican citizens & I dunno how many Native Americans.
There were also a handful of Anglos well established here; but I've
no idea how many. The history of CA from my kid-hood was that
Fremont defeated what little there was of Spanish army to claim
the territory.

Factank, 2014: "According to California Governor Jerry Brown’s
new state budget, Latinos are projected to become the largest
single racial/ethnic group in the state by March of this year, making
up 39% of the state’s population."

In California, Cinco de Mayo does/always has made sense - not
a transplant. Probably in Arizona, New Mexico, & Texas, as well.

BTW, is One allowed to claim they are celebrating St. Patrick's Day
without getting drunk, excessively drunk? There's a lotta holidays
where sobriety is accepted. I don't think SP is one of them.

====================== :>

Never argue with a drunk. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.”

SIGNYM

Monday, March 17, 2014 10:18 AM

Quote:
I want my Scottish equivalent

Vote for independence and celebrate the anniversary with lots and lots of single malt. We'll all be happy to celebrate with you!

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Monday, March 17, 2014 12:56 PM

I'm 90% irish, but don't celebrate it in any particular way.

It's waxed and waned as a fesitival here. In my Dad's youth, there was a huge march through the city. I guess the Irish catholics were more of a community in those days.

Now its an exuse for a piss up, so of course its popular in Australia.

One of the world's great diasporas, I suppose.

FREMDFIRMA

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 6:31 AM

Oh I am well aware that "saint" patrick was a genocidal fuckhead.

Thing is, I don't care for cultural oppression of ANY stripe, not when WE do it, and not when anyone else does, and while my convoluted heritage is more scottish/arabic (long story) than irish, given my ancestors humped ANYTHING THAT HELD STILL LONG ENOUGH, I am sure there's a little in there.

And so I take this day (mind, I am very, very drunk at the moment) to spit at the English for being shitheads, even as I firmly and fully acknowledge us Americans are even WORSE shitheads when it comes to it.

So for me, this "holiday" is about pissing in the eyes of folks who think power gives them some kinda right to dictate anything.
And well, what would the Irish/Scottish BE without a healthy dose of (IMHO, entirely appropriate) belligerance ?

-Frem

FREMDFIRMA

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 6:37 AM

Not quiiiite done yet...

Yanno, one reason I am so completely *rabid* about the 2nd Amendment and the right to bear arms is thus: so long as there is ONE asshole with a rifle, your oppression is not complete, and never will be, cause it only takes ONE.

-Frem

FREMDFIRMA

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 8:11 AM

And there will always, ALWAYS be one.
Nature *REQUIRES* it.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AsLongAsThereIsOneMan

Quote:
No will to wake for this morn, to see another Black Rose born....

Not only does another rise the moment one hits the ground, the very action of destroying a Darkheart/Blackrose takes so much effort that the collaterate damage involed INEVITABLY creates more of them.

The bastards of the world are doomed, they just don't know it yet.

-Frem

AURAPTOR

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 8:32 AM

190 years Savannah GA has celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Or as rep Sheila Jackson Lee would say... nearly half of the life time of the USA !

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

I'm just a red pill guy in a room full of blue pill addicts.

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

FREMDFIRMA

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 9:04 AM

Speaking of Irish/Scottish Belligerance...

THIS.

Bonus points for the English morons saying the STUPIDEST possible thing, at the worst possible time!

-Frem

NIKI2

Tuesday, March 18, 2014 7:57 PM

Okay, I'll chime in. We never celebrated it, tho' some do around here--mostly it's an excuse for radio "reporters" to crack wise at one another and sales, sales, sales. But I'll offer this:

Quote:
Nine Fun And Fascinating Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

Tis that time of year again. St. Patrick’s Day: the day when we are all Irish and green is seen everywhere. A day when Harp Ale and Guinness, along with some good Irish whiskey, are the drinks of choice. It’s almost spring and we are ready to see it in properly. But not everything you’ve been told about St. Patrick’s Day is true. Here are some facts about the man and the day.

1. St. Patrick was actually English.

He was born in Britain around 350 A.D., probably in Wales. Why Wales? With a given name like Maewyn, where else? When he was 16, Maewyn was taken captive by Irish raiders. He was taken to Ireland, where he worked as a slave, spending his days minding sheep. This task was a lonely one and Maewyn found himself turning to his faith for comfort. After six years of slavery, he escaped. He began to write about how God had spoken to him during those lonely years and had helped him escape by walking 200 miles to the Irish coast. One night, an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him that he was meant to return to Ireland, this time as a missionary. The young man began his training and, after 15 years, was ready to return to Ireland. Since he knew the language and culture, Patrick (as he now called himself) was able to combine the old ways with his new teachings. He was very successful in converting the Irish without wiping out their roots (modern missionaries could use this as an example). Patrick ministered to the Irish for 30 years and died in County Down on March 17, 461 CE. That’s right, we party on the day he died, not his birthday. Consider it a very long-lasting wake.

2. Snakes in Ireland? Nope.

There are many legends concerning St. Patrick and his Irish ministry. One of these is that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. But snakes were never actually found in Ireland because of where the island is located. The snakes are a metaphor for the pagan religion of ancient Ireland. Rather insulting on the surface of it, but Paganism never really left Ireland. As was often the case with the old religion of any area that is Christianized, much of it was simply fitted with a new veneer. St. Bridget, for example, is the goddess, Brighid. Christianize her name, give her a made-up hagiography and you have a Saint. Which segues into our next tidbit…

3. The shamrock and the Goddess

According to legend, St. Patrick used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the holy trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is another Christian story created to mask the fact that the Irish — like most pagans — were very familiar with the concept of a triune deity. The goddess Brighid was just such a deity. Brighid (known as Bride in Scotland and Brigantia in Britain) had three aspects: She was goddess of the forge, of healing and of the bardic arts. Her shrine near Kildare dated back thousands of years before a monastery was built on the site. Brighid became St. Bridget and her feast day is the same day as it always was: February 1st (by Pagan reckoning, the eve of the day starts the Sabbat, hence Imbolc is on the 2nd). By the way, the shamrock does grow in Ireland but it’s not the country’s official symbol. That would be the harp.

4. The scoop on Leprechauns.

The little man dressed in green with a pot of gold is a common sight on St. Patrick’s Day decorations. The lore of leprechauns goes back to 8th century Ireland, where they were water sprites known as luchorpán (small body). They may have been, in ancient times, actual beings similar to the Scottish Picts. Eventually, these sprites melded with a household fairy and became the leath bhrogan. This means “shoemaker,” and that was what the little man became: a simple cobbler. Say what you will about making shoe

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Monday, March 31, 2014 7:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by G:

"piss ups" - winner.

I want my Scottish equivalent, preferably 6 months later, but otherwise not too different. Then, an Aussie Holiday - sounds like a good band...

Scots celebrate Burns Night with a piss up. And Australians, well we're always drunk. Just another day *hic*

Burns Night - 25 January
Australia Day - 26 January

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Monday, March 31, 2014 7:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Okay, I'll chime in. We never celebrated it, tho' some do around here--mostly it's an excuse for radio "reporters" to crack wise at one another and sales, sales, sales. But I'll offer this:
Quote:
Nine Fun And Fascinating Facts About St. Patrick’s Day

Tis that time of year again. St. Patrick’s Day: the day when we are all Irish and green is seen everywhere. A day when Harp Ale and Guinness, along with some good Irish whiskey, are the drinks of choice. It’s almost spring and we are ready to see it in properly. But not everything you’ve been told about St. Patrick’s Day is true. Here are some facts about the man and the day.

1. St. Patrick was actually English.

He was born in Britain around 350 A.D., probably in Wales. Why Wales? With a given name like Maewyn, where else? When he was 16, Maewyn was taken captive by Irish raiders. He was taken to Ireland, where he worked as a slave, spending his days minding sheep. This task was a lonely one and Maewyn found himself turning to his faith for comfort. After six years of slavery, he escaped. He began to write about how God had spoken to him during those lonely years and had helped him escape by walking 200 miles to the Irish coast. One night, an angel appeared to him in a dream, telling him that he was meant to return to Ireland, this time as a missionary. The young man began his training and, after 15 years, was ready to return to Ireland. Since he knew the language and culture, Patrick (as he now called himself) was able to combine the old ways with his new teachings. He was very successful in converting the Irish without wiping out their roots (modern missionaries could use this as an example). Patrick ministered to the Irish for 30 years and died in County Down on March 17, 461 CE. That’s right, we party on the day he died, not his birthday. Consider it a very long-lasting wake.

2. Snakes in Ireland? Nope.

There are many legends concerning St. Patrick and his Irish ministry. One of these is that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. But snakes were never actually found in Ireland because of where the island is located. The snakes are a metaphor for the pagan religion of ancient Ireland. Rather insulting on the surface of it, but Paganism never really left Ireland. As was often the case with the old religion of any area that is Christianized, much of it was simply fitted with a new veneer. St. Bridget, for example, is the goddess, Brighid. Christianize her name, give her a made-up hagiography and you have a Saint. Which segues into our next tidbit…

3. The shamrock and the Goddess

According to legend, St. Patrick used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the holy trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is another Christian story created to mask the fact that the Irish — like most pagans — were very familiar with the concept of a triune deity. The goddess Brighid was just such a deity. Brighid (known as Bride in Scotland and Brigantia in Britain) had three aspects: She was goddess of the forge, of healing and of the bardic arts. Her shrine near Kildare dated back thousands of years before a monastery was built on the site. Brighid became St. Bridget and her feast day is the same day as it always was: February 1st (by Pagan reckoning, the eve of the day starts the Sabbat, hence Imbolc is on the 2nd). By the way, the shamrock does grow in Ireland but it’s not the country’s official symbol. That would be the harp.

4. The scoop on Leprechauns.

The little man dressed in green with a pot of gold is a common sight on St. Patrick’s Day decorations. The lore of leprechauns goes back to 8th century Ireland, where they were water sprites known as luchorpán (small body). They may have been, in ancient times, actual beings similar to the Scottish Picts. Eventually, these sprites melded with a household fairy and became the leath bhrogan. This means “shoemaker,” and that was what the little man became: a simple cobbl