Thursday, March 17, 2011

St. Patrick's Day

Shamrock Cookies by The Fancy Lady Gourmet on Etsy
Photo: The Fancy Lady Gourmet on Etsy

Over the years, I've had a love-hate relationship with St. Patrick's Day. At first it was love.

In 8th grade, I sewed my own shamrock-covered boxer shorts and wore green tights under them (yes, you read that right). But early in my college years, I started to resent it. I'm part-Irish and it seemed like almost everyone around me was, too. Yet all we did to celebrate our heritage was to dye things green once a year.

Chicago River dyed green by Marit and Toomas Hinnosaar on Flickr
Photo: Marit and Toomas Hinnosaar

I didn't know anything about my Irish heritage then. But when I was 20, I was blessed to be able to travel around Ireland on a tour bus for a week. Our tour guide was the most outwardly-racist person I've ever met. He passionately hated England and all things English, stemming from the horrors faced by the Irish during the Potato Famine and the reign of Oliver Cromwell. Of course I do not espouse racism whatsoever, so I took all of his words with a grain of salt. But I have to admit that I learned a lot about Ireland seeing things through his (tainted) eyes.

During my visit to Ireland, I came to appreciate my Irish heritage and the history of that country. Now when I wear my green "Irish Pride" t-shirt on St. Patrick's Day, it's because I am proud of my heritage and not because I don't want to get pinched.

So today I will say "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" to you, and I'll mean it.

I'm going to leave you with this photo of my favorite spot in Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher.

Cliffs of Moher by IrishFireside on Flickr
Photo: IrishFireside

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

5 comments:

  1. thanks for posting my cookies! your so lucky ive been trying to visit ireland for awhile now but haven't had the money or time , i think its so funny that in ireland they don't celebrate st patricks day as much as we do lol
    what part of ireland did you visit?

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  2. That sure is an impressive view....

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  3. TheFancyLady--Your work is amazing and I love your blog (just followed & favorited you)! I went to Dublin for a few days, then a tour all around the country where we stopped at tiny countryside cemeteries and little villages... translation = I don't remember the names of anywhere I was except for Dublin! =)

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  4. OnePerfectDay--It really was. The wind was blowing so hard that we couldn't stand up straight. One of those truly memorable moments when you're traveling!

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