Tomorrow the whole world will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Today I’d like to dedicate my article to some Irish traditions of celebrating this holiday. Because it is well-known that this holiday has Irish roots and Irish origin. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated to honor Saint Patrick, a missionary credited with converting the Irish to Christianity. It is believed that he was not even Irish. Some say he was born in either Scotland or in Roman Britain. When he was around 60 years old, St. Patrick traveled to Ireland and spread the Christian word.
This holiday, as well as many others, has its own symbols. The shamrock is one of Ireland's most famous symbols. It is said that Saint Patrick used the shamrock, or seamorg, and its 3 leaves to explain the concept of the Trinity - the father, son, and the Holy Spirit. It is true that the shamrock is associated with good luck, thus, in order to become happy and have luck all year long, many people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day.
Another symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day is Leprechaun. The legendary leprechaun is an elf-like creature. In most representations he looks like a small, old man. Leprechauns like to spend their time alone making shoes. They live in the woods and hide from everyone, but maybe this has something to do with their mysterious pots of gold! The leprechauns are said to keep their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. Some stories say if a leprechaun likes you, he will share his gold. Others stories say you must catch a leprechaun, and then he will take you to his pot of gold. During the holiday you can try to lure him to you and grab him, or you can try to build a Leprechaun trap to capture him in. If you are lucky enough to capture a Leprechaun, your work is not done yet! Legend says you cannot take your eyes of the Leprechaun for even a second or he will disappear. The first thing you should do is to build a trap and lure a leprechaun into it. There is not a sure-fire way of doing it – you may use all kinds of things you have and which, to your mind, can be of good avail. Do not forget about bait – for greedy leprechauns coins will be the best baits, either real or sweet chocolate. There is no guarantee you will catch this mysterious elf, but you are sure to have much fun!
Besides, as far as the story goes, St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea. He did this by beating on a drum. It was believed that snakes were a symbol of evil and by driving them away St. Patrick helped to rid Ireland of evil.
You are sure to have heard about Blarney Stone, haven’t you? The amazing news is that it does exist! It is set in the wall of the Blarney Castle in the Irish village of Blarney. You can visit and kiss the Blarney stone, but it is not an easy fete. To reach the Blarney stone, you must lie down on your back and bend your head backwards and downwards to reach it. It is said that kissing the Blarney Stone will give you the gift of blarney, or speaking convincingly to all you meet! If you want to try your luck, do not allow anybody stop you!
Apart from symbols of this holiday you also should know what basic meals of the holiday are and what people in Ireland will eat this very day. Most will start the day with a good old Irish Breakfast: fried rashers of bacon, fried sausage, fried black pudding, fried tomato, and a fried egg. If that's not enough, you can always go one step further and have an Ulster Fry. It's the bread that makes it special: fried potato bread made out of yesterday's leftover spuds and fried soda farls to boot.
Irish stew is part and parcel of holiday menu in many restaurants and homes, as broths and stews are the cornerstone of Irish gastronomy. There's no disputing that it is still one of the best casserole dishes in the entire world.
Everyone knows that the Irish are fond of the potato. They talk about last year's potatoes, this season's potatoes, great potato vintages--people in Ireland talk about potatoes the way the French talk about wine. Potatoes dishes such as Colcannon and Champ, therefore, are always popular choices.
This holiday, as well as many others, has its own symbols. The shamrock is one of Ireland's most famous symbols. It is said that Saint Patrick used the shamrock, or seamorg, and its 3 leaves to explain the concept of the Trinity - the father, son, and the Holy Spirit. It is true that the shamrock is associated with good luck, thus, in order to become happy and have luck all year long, many people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day.
Another symbol of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day is Leprechaun. The legendary leprechaun is an elf-like creature. In most representations he looks like a small, old man. Leprechauns like to spend their time alone making shoes. They live in the woods and hide from everyone, but maybe this has something to do with their mysterious pots of gold! The leprechauns are said to keep their pots of gold at the end of the rainbow. Some stories say if a leprechaun likes you, he will share his gold. Others stories say you must catch a leprechaun, and then he will take you to his pot of gold. During the holiday you can try to lure him to you and grab him, or you can try to build a Leprechaun trap to capture him in. If you are lucky enough to capture a Leprechaun, your work is not done yet! Legend says you cannot take your eyes of the Leprechaun for even a second or he will disappear. The first thing you should do is to build a trap and lure a leprechaun into it. There is not a sure-fire way of doing it – you may use all kinds of things you have and which, to your mind, can be of good avail. Do not forget about bait – for greedy leprechauns coins will be the best baits, either real or sweet chocolate. There is no guarantee you will catch this mysterious elf, but you are sure to have much fun!
Besides, as far as the story goes, St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea. He did this by beating on a drum. It was believed that snakes were a symbol of evil and by driving them away St. Patrick helped to rid Ireland of evil.
You are sure to have heard about Blarney Stone, haven’t you? The amazing news is that it does exist! It is set in the wall of the Blarney Castle in the Irish village of Blarney. You can visit and kiss the Blarney stone, but it is not an easy fete. To reach the Blarney stone, you must lie down on your back and bend your head backwards and downwards to reach it. It is said that kissing the Blarney Stone will give you the gift of blarney, or speaking convincingly to all you meet! If you want to try your luck, do not allow anybody stop you!
Apart from symbols of this holiday you also should know what basic meals of the holiday are and what people in Ireland will eat this very day. Most will start the day with a good old Irish Breakfast: fried rashers of bacon, fried sausage, fried black pudding, fried tomato, and a fried egg. If that's not enough, you can always go one step further and have an Ulster Fry. It's the bread that makes it special: fried potato bread made out of yesterday's leftover spuds and fried soda farls to boot.
Irish stew is part and parcel of holiday menu in many restaurants and homes, as broths and stews are the cornerstone of Irish gastronomy. There's no disputing that it is still one of the best casserole dishes in the entire world.
Everyone knows that the Irish are fond of the potato. They talk about last year's potatoes, this season's potatoes, great potato vintages--people in Ireland talk about potatoes the way the French talk about wine. Potatoes dishes such as Colcannon and Champ, therefore, are always popular choices.
Colcannon (from the Gaelic word cole, meaning cabbage) is made of cabbage that has been cooked in milk and blended with buttery mashed potatoes. It's traditionally served in a fluffy pile with a sort of well in the centre that's filled with even more melted butter for dipping each forkful into. Champ is more favored in the Northern counties of Ireland. It's equally heavenly in taste; the only difference is it's made with scallions.
So you my cook some of these dishes and enjoy St. Patrick’s Day as if in Ireland! Have fun and enjoy the holiday!
2 comments:
hi do your mom and dads do this thing?
Yes! And why not??? It is really a fun to add more excitement and something new and unusual to your everyday life!
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