And a Happy St. Patrick’s day to y’all! Though this day isn’t a national holiday here in the states, it means much to those of us of Irish heritage and lineage, a celebration of our past culture and how it has become a part of American culture. I definitely am an ancestor with such origins from two of my grandfathers, my mother’s father and my father’s mother. Together with a mixture of Welsh and Dutch from my other grandparents, I truly am a diverse mutt.
It wasn’t until later years in my life that I discovered from where I came. Genealogy was not of great importance in my family, and it wasn’t until my brother and I began our search that the two of us made great discoveries. The most fascinating of them was the story of our great-great-great grandfather Neely Tweed shooting the sheriff of his county and the aftermath. I actually took the wife and son on a couple of road trips following in his footsteps, from the beginning to the end.
And seeing that our past wasn’t such a big deal during our years of growing up, any actual observance of Saint Patrick’s day never took place. The main thing I remember about that day was that when we went to school, mom made sure that we wore green so as for us to not get pinched. I never understood that or knew the reason why until years later after doing some research and finding out the origins of that quaint ritual. It is believed that those Irish fairy creatures, leprechauns, have a penchant to pinch those they can actually see. The trick to that was that if one is wearing the green, they are invisible to the eyes of leprechauns.
Though this area of the mountains of western North Carolina was the final stopping place for many immigrants of Scot-Irish heritage, there are no major celebrations or parades planned in my hometown. The only reference to celebrations I found on an internet search was a warning from our local police that they would be conducting a “Booze it & Lose It” campaign for drunk drivers. But…that sure doesn’t stop individuals from celebrating, including those that have no Irish link at all. To me it seems that Saint Patrick’s day is just an excuse to party and drink, just like Cinco de Mayo, not understanding the reason for the celebration. Saint Patrick’s Day celebrates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, but Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for this day, encouraging a hoisting of the pint. Even Cinco de Mayo is totally misunderstood in this country, many believing it’s Mexican Independence Day instead of the celebration of a great military victory by the Mexicans over the French, in a war they eventually lost.
Even I will celebrate with a wee taste of the ol’ country, a shot of good Bushmills Irish Whiskey along with a pint of Guinness Extra Stout Ale. That is the limit, though: a wee taste; no “Booze it & Lose It” for this ol’ boy! I did’ however, take Lynndee out a couple of years ago to a local Irish pub here in the city where we had a wee taste along with a savory Irish repast including, of course, an Irish potato recipe.
If anything, I know I’m of Irish decent because I sure do love my potatoes as well as my Guinness! But the main reason for my celebrating will be in memory of all my forebears who made that perilous journey to a new land and began new lives and created families that eventually led to the existence of me being here. So I will raise a toast to the Tweeds and the Aikens in my lineage, and all the others who dared to seek a new destiny. And to all out there, be you Irish, or not, an Irish blessing to you:
May the road you travel always go downhill and the wind be ever at your back.
LOL, when I was growing up, no one really celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. Sometimes people wore green, but there was nothing like there is today.
I always wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. Honestly, it’s not so much for the festive feeling as it is to save myself from the pinches!
Good thinking, Stacie. The pinch thingy, just as many other things, are an American addition to St. Patrick’s Day. The color associated with St. Patrick is actually blue.
Thank you for sharing this with us – its always nice to know more about the day to each one. Happy Saint Patricks Day!
You’re welcome, Aisha. Thanks for reading…(“,)
Hehehe I’m not Irish but based on how much green and Irish food I make this time of year you would think I was! Such a fun holiday 🙂
Yes, so much fun we had.
I’m a wee bit Irish and more than a bit Scottish AND a little Cherokee Indian. I’m a mixed breed. 🙂 We don’t really make a big deal of St. Patrick’s Day, but I did wear green today.
Scot, Irish, basically the same.
I have no Irish heritage to speak of but I do have a fascination with all things Celtic culture. So I’m Irish in spirit, so to speak.
And it’s the spirit that counts. Celtic is magical.
St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday here in the states and more, a day of observance in Ireland. Honestly, they don’t even wear green in Ireland. It is more common to wear blue.
Exactly, blue is the color associated with St. Patrick, not green. And the shamrock is not the national logo of Ireland; it’s the harp.
Wow I totally missed out on the Neely Tweed post. I never knew the origin of the St. Patrick’s Day pinching tradition either. That is so crazy!
I guess you did miss my post about Neely. It was written over three years ago before we switched to Word Press and changed our blogging network. I’m glad you got to read it. That’s history I love to talk about and share. As for the pinching, that’s more an American thing than Irish.
I always wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day. I am sure that beer was pretty tasty today.
The Guinness is tasty any day of the year…(“,)
I am the person who always forgot to wear green. It was never very fun for me lol!
Aawww I miss celebrating St. Patty’s Day in NY! We don’t have it here, unfortunately!
As we don’t have it here, either and these mountains are full of Irish descendants.
It is so great that you were able to trace your ancestors back so far and learn about that story! Even better that you could retrace those steps!! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you!!
Thanks, Jamie. And my true dream is to really retrace their footsteps and go to Ireland.
I used to make green mashed potatoes for the kids on St Patrick’s day. They used to love it.
Some days I get into the day and others, I just don’t have the muster.
My kids said there were pinching going on for non-green wearing kids 🙂
I actually didn’t get a chance to do nearly as much as I wanted to do for today. I didn’t even get to wear green! I feel terrible about it, but the day really ended up getting away from me. I’ll have to make up for it tomorrow and maybe cook up something traditional.
An irish whiskey sounds very strong lol. I got to wear green, made green rice and some green kebabs but that’s about it.
Actually, the Bushmills whiskey goes down smooth with no bite at all. Good stuff!
When I was growing up wearing green was a big thing. However, this year the boys and I didn’t go all out for St. Patricks Day. I actually forgot about it until getting online. However, my son ended up wearing a shirt that had green in it anyways.
I was off work so I just bummed around the house yesterday…NOT in green! LOL!!
Here on the Southside of Chicago, St Patrick’s Day is a huge celebration day. We go all out for our parades and wearing everything green.
And here it’s just a laid-back day with no observances at all, other than so many going out and partying and getting drunk, and most of ’em aren’t even Irish. Go figure that!
we don’t really celebrate st patty’s day with going out, but do our own fun stuff here at home with the kids.
I’ve been on the receiving end of the pinch for not wearing green quite a few times! I always seem to forget and then have to deal with the consequences! lol
We’re not Irish, but I love learning more about this holiday! I didn’t know about the pinching!
Oh wow, I love the “wearing green so you wouldn’t get pinched by leprechauns.” This is the first time that I’ve heard of this before!
Green is my favorite color so I always have something green! Love this holiday!