***
Throughout the day
everywhere
Irish eyes will be smiling,
fountain waters, rivers and beers
will be dyed green,
parades will be had,
flags will be waved,
the bag pipes will be played,
the green will be worn
and many will croon about
"Oh, Danny boy.."
a day to celebrate
our ancestry...
(even if we have to look way back and
squint to get a glimpse of those that
came long before us...)
We will tip our hats
toward Ireland and the
celebrated
Saint Patrick.
We use the day to remember Saint Patrick,
the one and only that rid the
whole isle of SNAKES!
Oh, but did he?
Who Was St. Patrick?
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland,
is one of Christianity's most widely known figures.
But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery.
Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick,
including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland,
are false, the products of hundreds of years of
exaggerated storytelling.
Taken Prisoner By Irish Raiders
It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain
to wealthy parents
near the end of the fourth century.
He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D.
Although his father was a Christian deacon,
it has been suggested
that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives
and there is no evidence
that Patrick came from a particularly religious family.
At the age of sixteen, 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.)
During this time,
he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people.
Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace,
becoming a devout Christian.
(It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting
the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.)
Guided By Visions
After more than six years as a prisoner,
Patrick escaped.
According to his writing,
a voice-which he believed to be God's-spoke to him in a dream,
telling him it was time to leave Ireland.
To do so,
Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo,
where it is believed he was held,
to the Irish coast.
After escaping to Britain,
Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation
-an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary.
Soon after,
Patrick began religious training, a course of study
that lasted more than fifteen years.
After his ordination as a priest,
he was sent to Ireland with a
dual mission-to minister to Christians
already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish.
(Interestingly, this mission contradicts the widely
held notion that Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.)
Bonfires and Crosses
Familiar with the Irish language and culture,
Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual
into his lessons of Christianity instead of
attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs.
For instance,
he used bonfires to celebrate Easter
since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire.
He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol,
onto the Christian cross
to create what is now called a Celtic cross,
so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. (Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion.
The Irish culture centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth.
When this is considered, it is no surprise that the story of Patrick's life became exaggerated over the centuries-spinning exciting tales
to remember history has always been a part of the Irish way of life.)
The above information was obtained at history . com
follow the link below, if you would like, for more info on
Ireland and St. Patrick
The absence of snakes in Ireland seems to cry out for an explanation
— but only if one regards or ventures to the island from outside:
from England, say, or from continental Europe.
To the indigenous Celts, there would, of course, have been nothing to explain.
The Gaelic peoples no more needed to explain an absence of snakes
on their island home than they needed to explain an absence of kangaroos.
To those who came to Ireland from abroad,
however,
a dearth of serpents was a striking anomaly in need of an answer.
We humans must have answers.
And so arose the legend of St. Patrick and the snakes.
The reason Ireland has no snakes,
so the story goes,
is that Patrick charmed all snakes on the island
to come down to the seashore,
slither into the water, and drown.
(truth or blarney?)
So Ireland did once have snakes, but it has them no more.
Patrick charmed them all into the sea.
So lets look to the Smithsonian National Park
for an explanation of why Ireland has no snakes...
Now snakes are found in deserts, grasslands, forests, mountains, and even oceans virtually everywhere around the world.
Everywhere except Ireland,
New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica,
that is.
One thing these few snake-less parts of the world have in common is that
they are surrounded by water.
New Zealand, for instance,
split off from Australia and Asia before snakes ever evolved.
So far,
no serpent has successfully migrated across the open ocean to a new terrestrial home.
As the world's oceans have risen and fallen over the millennia,
land bridges have come and gone between Ireland,
other parts of Great Britain, and the European mainland,
allowing animals and early humans to cross.
However, any snake that may have slithered it's way to Ireland
would have turned into a Popsicle when the ice ages hit.
The most recent ice age began about
three million years ago and continues into the present.
Between warm periods like the current climate,
glaciers have advanced and retreated
more than 20 times, often completely blanketing Ireland with ice.
Snakes, being cold-blooded animals,
simply aren't able to survive in areas where the ground
is frozen year round.
Ireland thawed out for the last time
only 15,000 years ago.
Since then,
12 miles of icy-cold water
in the Northern Channel have separated
Ireland from neighboring Scotland,
which does harbor a few species of snakes.
There are no snakes in Ireland
for the simple reason that they can't get there.
Now, with all the science laid out
before us..
and our educated
minds used..
I ,myself ,think life is a little
more fun..
when contemplating
the snakes exit from Ireland
if we throw in a little
blarney.
***
May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.
