OH, IRELAND: The magazines about Ireland mentioned in Tuesday’s
RTS got a whole train of St. Patrick’s Day thoughts rolling
along.
We even picked up some new information about Ireland while
looking over the “Ireland of the Welcomes” magazines loaned to us
by Ken Cogan of Crosby. He and his wife, Jane, have traveled to the
Emerald Isle several times.
Some tidbits we gleaned:
THE SAINT: As for St. Patrick himself, he is not only the patron
saint of Ireland, but also the patron saint of Nigeria!
While historians do not agree on his full name – either Magonus
Saccatus Patricius or Maewyn Succat – they do agree that his father
was a local official of the declining Roman Empire in Britain. The
saint’s grandfather was a priest of the Christian faith named
Patricius.
Scholars also disagree on where saint was born – Eales, Scotland
or northern England, but they do agree that he was captured by
marauders just before his 16th birthday in the year 416 A.D. and
taken as a slave to Ireland where he herded sheep.
On a side note, the Latin name for Ireland was Ultima Thule –
“the back of beyond” or the last stop of a voyage.
After six years of slavery somewhere in Hibernia, Patrick heard
a voice in a dream tell him to go to the coast and take a ship. He
did, and returned to his family before traveling to France to take
up the religious life. Consecrated a bishop by Pope Celestine, he
was given the mission of spreading the Gospel in Ireland around 432
A.D.
The magazine notes that there were Christians in Ireland before
Patrick arrived but not many. He died March 17, 461 A.D.
PARADES: Another article on St. Patrick’s Day parades claims
that the first parade in America was held in New York in 1762, but
the first such celebration did not occur in Ireland until 1931 in
Dublin. Subsequently, the Irish Tourist Board developed the event
into a week-long celebration.
SHAMROCK: Before we leave the subject of the shamrock, note that
there is debate over the actual species of the true shamrock, but
the plants most often favored are white clover (trifolium repens),
the black medic (medicago lupulina), wood sorrell (oxalis
acetoselia) and hop clover (trifolium minus).
AND LAST: “Erin go bragh” means “Ireland forever!”
