St Patrick's Day and our culture

bannowgal

St Patrick's Day inclines us to reflect on St Patrick and his association with Ireland.
Celebrations on that day display aspects of our culture too. But not all of our culture is something to be proud of. Every day you walk or drive along our roads you will see the hedgerows littered with rubbish. Having no appreciation of keeping our countryside tidy is not going to change for the better -- because it is part of our culture.

pedroeibar1

Nothing to do with history.
Parades and all that old s#1te are an import from the US and I've no intention of being proud of that pseudoclaptrap or regarding it as part of my culture.

robp

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Nothing to do with history.
Parades and all that old s#1te are an import from the US and I've no intention of being proud of that pseudoclaptrap or regarding it as part of my culture.

How old does a custom have to be before its considered Irish? We have had St Patrick's Parades in Dublin since the 1930s. St Patrick's Day does a long history in Ireland although its religious customs are far older then secular traditions. One old custom alive today is wearing the shamrock.

In 1726 botanist Rev Dr Threkeld who identified shamrock as white clover and noted

This plant is worn by the people in their hats on the seventeenth day of March (Mac Coitir 2006, 38).

http://pilgrimagemedievalireland.com/

pedroeibar1

robp wrote: »

How old does a custom have to be before its considered Irish? We have had St Patrick's Parades in Dublin since the 1930s. St Patrick's Day does a long history in Ireland although its religious customs are far older then secular traditions. One old custom alive today is wearing the shamrock. http://pilgrimagemedievalireland.com/

The OP primarily was about littering, nothing to do with “History”, hence my rather ascerbic comment. To address your other points, there is quite a stretch between wearing a bit of shamrock and leprechaun hats, green beards, orange wigs, Chinese dragons and young wans with fat legs in short skirts throwing things into the air only to catch them again. Tragically the copious and senseless amounts of drink are more in keeping with the tradition. Until around 1900 I think it was an offence to wear shamrock in the Crown forces, a rule that dates to the 1798 Rebellion, civil disobedience etc., (and hence the song ‘The Wearing of the Green’).

I have a certain amount of respect for Myles na gCopaleen who had a go at Dev for wasting taxpayers’ money on the DIAS whose only purpose Myles said was to prove that there was no God and two St Patricks. It was a dig at Schrodinger, and some Patrician scholar (Binchy? Bergin? Best?) who claimed that there was more than one St. Patrick.

My song is concernin'
Three sons of great learnin'
Binchy and Bergin and Best.
They worked out that riddle
Old Irish and Middle,
Binchy and Bergin and Best.

They studied far higher
Than ould Kuno Meyer
And fanned up the glimmer
Bequeathed by Zimmer,
Binchy and Bergin and Best.

robp

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

The OP primarily was about littering, nothing to do with “History”, hence my rather ascerbic comment. To address your other points, there is quite a stretch between wearing a bit of shamrock and leprechaun hats, green beards, orange wigs, Chinese dragons and young wans with fat legs in short skirts throwing things into the air only to catch them again. Tragically the copious and senseless amounts of drink are more in keeping with the tradition. Until around 1900 I think it was an offence to wear shamrock in the Crown forces, a rule that dates to the 1798 Rebellion, civil disobedience etc., (and hence the song ‘The Wearing of the Green’).

I have a certain amount of respect for Myles na gCopaleen who had a go at Dev for wasting taxpayers’ money on the DIAS whose only purpose Myles said was to prove that there was no God and two St Patricks. It was a dig at Schrodinger, and some Patrician scholar (Binchy? Bergin? Best?) who claimed that there was more than one St. Patrick.

My song is concernin'
Three sons of great learnin'
Binchy and Bergin and Best.
They worked out that riddle
Old Irish and Middle,
Binchy and Bergin and Best.

They studied far higher
Than ould Kuno Meyer
And fanned up the glimmer
Bequeathed by Zimmer,
Binchy and Bergin and Best.

I agree the excessive drinking and hats are bit distasteful. I think it was Professor O'Rahilly. I must look into how the day was celebrated prior to Luke Wadding securing official church recognition of the day.

pedroeibar1

There also were two St. Patrick's days a few years ago when the 17th fell during Holy Week. The RC Church does not allow saints days to compete, so poor old Patrick was automatically moved to another day.

PS Correct, it was O'Rahilly. Thnaks.

whisky_galore

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Tragically the copious and senseless amounts of drink are more in keeping with the tradition.

Hard to believe now, but prior to 1970, the pubs closed on March 17th!

The parades I can tolerate, the plastic Paddywhackery that the US in particular indulges in is a tad grating. "Patty's Day" (sic.)