IRISH TRADITIONS
Not sure what to say to your loved one on February 14?
My love is like a cabbage
That's easy cut in two,
The leaves I'll give to others,
But the heart I'll keep for you.
Believe it or not, those lines are in the oral tradition and hail from Co. Tyrone. Might we suggest that if you're looking for something more romantic, try reading Thomas Moore, Sheridan, Yeats or any number of Irish poets who can melt the hardest of hearts with the sweetest of words.
THE BITE of FRIENDSHIP
I heard about "the bite of friendship" and wanted to know exactly what the custom is and where it began. I found out it is a saying that was offering a visitor the hospitality of the house.
I was told that in medieval times, visitors to an Irish castle took bread and salt before entering as a token of trust. I wasn't able to corroborate this but; it would appear that the custom of dipping bread into salt as a sign of friendship and/ or welcome is still in use all over the world.
DID YOU KNOW THAT...
The Galway International Oyster Festival was founded in 1954 and draws visitors each year from all over the world. County Galway has the best oyster bed's in Ireland. In the unpolluted waters of Brady Bay and Clarenbridge, the oysters lie waiting to be harvested at the beginning of the oyster season on September 1st.
The Harp is the official Emblem of Ireland, not the Shamrock. The handheld Harp was played by our Celtic Forefathers.
St. Patrick was not Irish, his father was Italian and his mother was Scottish. He was born in Scotland.
CHRISTMAS
THE WINDOW CANDLES.
The placing of a lighted candle in the window of a house on Christmas eve is still practised today. It has a number of purposes but primarily it was an symbol of welcome to Mary and Joseph as they traveled looking for shelter.
The candle also indicated a safe place for priests to perform mass as, during Penal Times this was not allowed.
A further element of the tradition is that the candle should be lit by the youngest member of the household and only be extinguished by a girl bearing the name ‘Mary’.
CHRISTMAS DINNER.
Christmas dinners in Ireland usually consist of the standard fare; turkey, a ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. Among the more traditional Irish elements are spiced beef (spiced over several days, cooked, and then pressed) which can be served either hot or cold. The traditional dessert is usually composed of mince pies, Christmas pudding, and brandy or rum sauce..
Anam Cara
At the heart of Celtic society is the notion of relationship embodied in the Gaelic phrase, anam cara. Anam is an Irish word for "soul, cara means "friend" thus "a soul friend".
Celtic spiritual tradition teaches that the human soul hovers around the body like a vigilant halo; anam cara is what results when two souls flow together. It is believed that the potential for such relationships exists before time and is aroused when kindred spirits find each other.
Once this friendship is awakened between two people, it cannot be broken by time or space. An anam cara accepts you for who you are and, in doing so, helps you to give birth to your own soul. This image of friendship is a poignant example of Celtic wisdom that transcends the ages.
Irish (Celtic) New Year
Celtic priests went into the woods on New Year's Eve to gather bunches of mistletoe, which they handed out to the people for protection against any harm. They also lit bonfires to drive away evil forces. They believed that it was safer to stay indoors as fairies were abroad on New Year's Eve.
Irish girls would go to bed and place sprigs of mistletoe, or holly, and ivy leaves under their pillows, in hope of a dream about their future husbands. They might also chant:
"Oh, Ivy Green and Holly Red,
Tell Me, Tell Me, Whom I shall Wed!"
On New Year's Eve, a large loaf of Christmas bread or cake was taken outside the house and hammered against the closed doors and windows, to drive out any misfortune and let happiness in. If they ate a very large supper that evening, it is believed that they would have plenty of food for the coming year.
JOHNNY COME LATELY - Indeed!
Dad, why do they make such a production of St. Patrick's Day when the Irish are really Johnny Come Lately in the U.S.A? They didn't arrive until about eighteen forty eight, after Eire's potatoe crop failed and they had to emigrate. They had no choice, it was leave home or die of starvation. So they came in steerage by the thousands to our Nation.
Son, obviously what your history books fail to say, if the Irish have been around forever and a day. When Columbus first landed on the shores of our land, Patrick McGuire was the first to make footsteps on the sand. And when you scan the roster of the Santa Maria's crew, you find many, many more Gaelic names on that list too.
Half of the soldiers in the Colonial Army were born in Ireland. Many Murphys, 230 O'Briens, 872 Kellys, were in Washington's command, eleven of his Grandchildren had fighting Irish Blood in their veins. John Barry, our first Commodore, controlled the sea lanes. Washington himself belonged to the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. He knew the Brirish and the Hessians, the Irish Brigade would lick.
Now, run your eye down the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Thorton Wilson, Taylor and Smith were born Irish, thanks to Providence. McKean, Read and Rutledge were of pure Gaelic parentage. Whipple and Hancock had Irish mothers, Lynch and Caroll, Celtic lineage. The first Continental Congress addressed Ireland in the year 1775. To say that thanks to the help of the Gaels, America would survive!
An ancient leprechaun told me one soft summer day in Kildare, that Paul Revere would never have made it without his fine mare. She was an Irish hunter from Lismore by the name of Shamrock, with great stamina and grand conformation from withers to fetlock. She hated tyranny, the Crown and the tangled webs they spun so she ran like a whistling wind from River Charles to Lexington.
So, Son, I see nothing wrong with a big celebration on March Seventeenth, with all our nationalities waving and wearing the green, Let McNamara head his band, let Clancy lower the boom, let the thunder of marching feet wake Crownwell in his tomb.
For if it wasn't for the help of the clans from the Irish Sea, America might not be the Home of the Brave and the land of the Free. (Author Unknown)
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Last Update: March 08
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