What I’m listening to: Irish bands. All day.
 |
| Derrintaggart Stone Circle, County Cork |
Eight years. That’s a long time to be blogging. Yet here I am, still wondering how I can be so lucky to have you all reading here every day.
How ironic that I started this blog on my favorite holiday ever. I won’t be around today, but I’ll be back tomorrow with a headache and a head full of fun memories, for I’m about to meet my new best friends of the day. The festivities start at 8 am and go well into tomorrow.
Instead of the usual post, I thought I’d dole out some Irish fun facts:
The Irish language is still very much alive. There’s a Gaeltacht region of the country, and that’s where you’ll find most of the 280,000 native Irish speakers. Beyond that over 1.65 million speak Irish as a second language. And it looks nothing like how it’s pronounced. Try it here.
The snakes St. Patrick ran out of town –pagans. I don’t know why this fact eludes a lot of people who talk about this as a “myth.” St. Patrick brought Christianity to the island. The pagans, to that point, were in charge. Their symbol — snakes. While he did not drive the pagans out of town, he was instrumental in spreading Christianity across the island.
A bump on the head on your birthday is good luck. This explains a lot of why my great-uncles used to hang us upside down by our feet and gently bump our heads on the floor. While we got just one bump, the tradition is one bump for every year. A six-year-old would get six bumps.
There are more Irish in America than in Ireland. Thank famines, wars, and forced migrations for that. Around the world, there are 50-80 million people with Irish roots — with over 36 million in America. Ireland has a population of 6.3 million.
Most Irish are craic (pronouned “crack”) addicts. Irish love a good time, and craic is a good time, or, loosely translated, fun.
This is a fun song. And I’m sure I’ll sing it a few times today.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone.
Happy Paddy's Day! Same song, different band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw-1O_wBYXY
We're seeing them in Birmingham on Sunday!
didn't know about bump on the head… fun for sure.
Happy St. Patrick's Day, Lori!
I wonder if "craic" is the origin of Brits saying "cracking good."
As far as I know I have no Irish blood, but may have a few drops from Scotland. But you never know what my AncestryDNA test will show when I get the results in a few weeks!
What a fun post! I hope you had a good time, and happy blogiversary. 🙂 I started my blog in late 2005, I think it was, so I'm looking at a ten-year blogiversary later this year! I can't believe it's been so long!
You're seeing Dropkick Murphys? Lucky you, Emily! I love them. 🙂
Definitely fun, Anne. I remember being dangled upside down and getting a "bump" on the head. I wondered why. 🙂
Paula, I bet they're related in origin. And hey, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
Thanks, Katharine! Great seeing you here. 🙂 And happy upcoming blogiversary to you, too! Time flies by, doesn't it?
It sure does! Mine isn't until much later this year, but it's an exciting milestone, so I'll take the happy wishes early. 🙂
Yes, they're amazing aren't they Lori? We used to see them every year but for the last few years they either haven't done a UK tour or haven't been local to us. Very much looking forward to it :o)
Katharine, let us know when and we'll come celebrate with you. 🙂
Emily, you MUST report back on that concert! I'm just short of buying their t-shirt, but I do love their music.
Great night, but I'm partially deaf and slightly bruised and battered this morning. Some videos on Facebook, I ended up on stage with them :o)