Fun Facts for St. Patrick’s Day

If you’re going to play with the Irish this St. Patrick’s Day, you better know the lingo.  The official language in Ireland is Gaelic – although only 5 percent of the people speak it on a daily basis.  The rest speak English, and have some colorful terms and traditions.  Here are some of the more common ones:

Wearing green, white, and orange – the colors of the Irish flag.  Green represents the people of the south, orange the people of the north, and white represents peace that brought them together as a nation.  By the way, it is considered unlucky to wear green in Ireland, except as a garnish on St. Patrick’s Day.  A custom has sprouted in America that Catholics wear green while Protestants wear orange, but no trace of that could be found in Irish customs.

‘A Gift of the Blarney‘ – means you are good at rhetoric, an eloquent or moving speaker, or can slice someone to ribbons using nothing but your tongue.  To put it another way, “”The  difference between ‘blarney’ and ‘baloney’ is this:  Baloney is when you tell a 50-year old woman that she looks 18.  Blarney is when you ask a woman how old she is, because you want to know at what age women are most beautiful.”

Kissing the Blarney Stone – The Blarney Stone is a real stone at the Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland.  Arguably one of the most popular tourist attractions in Ireland, people wait for hours to make an arduous climb to the top of the highest tower of the castle.  Then they lean far over a parapet to reach the stone, set into the wall about four feet below them.  According to the Blarney Castle circular, they used to hold visitors head-down by the ankles to reach it – although, of course, that may be just blarney!  They have now built a safer system and offer assistance to anyone who needs it.  Anyone who kisses the Blarney stone is forever blessed with the gift of eloquence.  Famous visitors have included Sir Walter Scott, Elizabeth Jane Cochran, Winston Churchill, Laurel and Hardy, Mick Jagger, and Ragtime Bob Darch – and, interestingly enough, former President Bill Clinton.

Shamrock – is a variety of white clover that grows abundantly in Ireland, as well as other countries.  Its Irish name is ‘seamrog’, and was anglicized to shamrock. Originally reverenced as a symbol of the rebirth of spring, it was also highly prized for having medicinal qualities.  Three leaves are common, and it is said that St. Patrick used the shamrock to demonstrate the trinity of God. Later, men began wearing sprigs of shamrocks on the hats or lapels as a flaunt to British rule.  Today, it is a registered trademark, along with the Celtic harp, belonging to the Government of Ireland. A four-leafed clover is generally not a shamrock but another variety of clover.  It is fairly rare, and said to be good luck.