Now, for the day that’s in it.
This time last year in Ireland, we were in lockdown.
So, another year on…
Saint Patrick’s Day really is a celebration for Irish exiles.
For the centuries of the British Empire, Irish people were forced to leave this island.
Wherever we finally landed, we did not stop being Irish.
This is a good general reader for the entire subject.
The Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations are really a creation of the 19th-century Irish diaspora in the USA.
By the start of the last century, the parades had grown to major events in large American cities.
Today in Chicago, the river is green, and this mighty daughter of the Windy City let a Brit audience know some home truths about the real Special Relationship.
It is also a day when people without any Irish roots profess their love for this unique little island.
When I switched on my phone today, there was a video message on WhatsApp from the main hombre.
He was in the mountains of his beloved Extremadura, complete with a glass of Guinness!
The main reason that there is an Irish diaspora at all is that we were Britain’s first colony.
It is Tadhg Hickey’s genius that he can make it all utterly hilarious.
Finally, it is the Brits who are the butt of the joke.
“Do you know there’s a part of me still messed up because of you?”
Brilliant line!
Thankfully, most people on the planet are not infected with the mutant British strain of Herrenvolk triumphalism.
Sadly, there is a cluster in the northeast of this island, although it is a dwindling number of active cases.
One day we’ll find a cure.
Of course, if you’re reading this in Fair Caledonia, then you will probably be aware that celebrating your Irishness isn’t something that is usually consequence-free.
I hope that one day, that too will change.
This is the day for the Irish, wherever we are.
The global reach of this little island is truly something to behold.
Moreover, it is a celebration of the soft power of our culture.
I recall the first time that I presented my old green passport, a beautiful document, at a foreign airport.
The welcome was warm and instantaneous.
When the pandemic is passed, I will travel again.
My last foreign foray ended with a brilliant night in Madrid with Paco and his brilliant esposa.
I was flying home the next day, and there were already unconfirmed reports that the first Covid19 cases were in Spain.
It was a sad observation when Paco’s wife told me some months ago that I was the last person that they had hugged in 2020.
February 2020…
Better days are ahead, and when they come, I have an invitation to their place in the rugged mountains of western Spain.
The next time I’m in an airport, whenever that is, I will proudly present the official travel document at passport control that says this island is home.
In fairness, it was always home, and I never doubted that.
If that sounds like you too, then you’re one of our own.
Abú!
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PBS America (Freeview channel 84 in London/UK (not sure about Irish equivalent and/or other platforms)) is showing a 2 part documentary, REVOLUTION IN COLOUR, “The story of Ireland’s struggle for independence during the early decades of the 20th Century.”
Today and tomorrow but repeated on Sunday also.
pbsamerica.co.uk/series/revolution-in-colour
Sadly, I’m a few generations too late to apply for an Irish passport. Fortunately for her and our weans and grandweans, seanathair mo bhean mhaith
was born in Ireland, so she and therefore the offspring should be in with a shout. That makes me so happy.
If the Irish have ever invaded anywhere, they did it with Guinness, not guns, Bonhomie, not bullets and CrIac, not concentration camps. The world is a better place for all that. 🙂
Hope you have a good day, Phil.
St Patrick was a slave most likely taken from Wales or the North of England.
The reason he was a slave was the Irish were invading British shores long before the Norman Invasion of Ireland (which in itself was at the behest of an Irish King deposed of his own Land by another) and as such regularly took slaves by force.
The Kingdom of Dál Riata also spanned between the North East of Ireland (Ulster) and the West Coast of Scotland (Argyle and the Isles ) proving that at some point Lands were taken by force on either side of the Irish Sea.
Don’t t kid yersel that the Irish have never bothered anyone at any time ,the Gaels were and continued to be a force to be reckoned with no matter who stood in their way.
For if they had been I doubt very much they could have forced their way across Europe to Land on these Islands permanently in the first place.
‘At the age of 16, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family’s estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. (There is some dispute over where this captivity took place. Although many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala.’
https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/who-was-saint-patrick
The Irish raiders who were attacking British shores of course did so by means of handing out casks of Guinness whilst wearing leprechaun hats and singing Rebel songs not yet needed for another 1400 years or so.
Oh and another thing…
St. Patrick Was Never Canonized as a Saint
‘He may be known as the patron saint of Ireland, but Patrick was never actually canonized by the Catholic Church. This is simply due to the era he lived in. During the first millennium, there was no formal canonization process in the Catholic Church. After becoming a priest and helping to spread Christianity throughout Ireland, Patrick was likely proclaimed a saint by popular acclaim.’
So ultimately the big Day of celebration surrounds a guy who was taken from Britain( therefore either Welsh or English) by force,then enslaved and then subsequently elevated to Sainthood not by the Church in Rome he chose to serve but by the very same people who had enslaved him then celebrate his life and death by getting absolutely hammered on the drink that most likely gave them the ideas to carry out such things in the first place?
A plot twist so gloriously Irish even some writers of fiction would struggle to dream up.
☘️🥃☘️ Sláinte
Never understood why they don’t have Irish theme pubs in Ireland. They have them everywhere else!
We have thousands of them all over the country (32 that is). However, in Ireland we just call them pubs haha. Phil, which mountains in western Spain do you mean. I have a particular fondness for the Montes de Leon. Climbed them a few times on the Camino de Santiago
John Thomas, having read your posts over the last few months you do not strike me as someone who’s ever been to Ireland.