AllThingsIrish

March1. Ireland is an island in the extreme north-west of Europe, situated between 51.5 and 55.5 degrees north latitude and between 5.5 and 10.5 degrees west longitude. Its nearest neighbour is the island of Britain to the east, separated from it by the Irish Sea. At their closest, the two islands are 18 kilometres apart. To the north, west and south a shallow continental shelf falls away rapidly to the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean.( I have posted my first square on my quilt page in the event you have a problem )Map

March2. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for thousands of years.
On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage
Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class. When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to a million poor, uneducated, Catholic Irish began to pour into America to escape starvation. Despised for their religious beliefs and funny accents by the American Protestant majority, the immigrants had trouble finding even menial jobs. When Irish Americans in the country 's cities took to the streets on St. Patrick's Day to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them in cartoons as drunk, violent monkeys. Flag

March3 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 captivitywhere this captivity took place. many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo . 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.
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. 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. In the winter of 432 Patrick landed near Saul and remained until spring, when he went to Tara and gained his first major converts. He defied the pagan priests of Tara by kindling the Easter fire on Slane, a nearby hill. This challenge to paganism created at first indignation, and subsequently respect, in the court of the high king. Tara became Patrick's headquarters, and with a band of followers he successively converted Meath, Leitrim, Cavan, and W Ireland. Further details of his missions are only generally known. In 444 or 445, with the approval of Pope St. Leo I, Patrick established his archiepiscopal see at Armagh. St. Patrick's mission was successful; Ireland was almost entirely Christian by the time of his death. He understood and wisely preserved the social structure of the country, converting the people tribe by tribe. Out of his hierarchy, organized by tribal units, developed the Celtic abbot-bishop system. At Patrick's instance, the traditional laws of Ireland were codified. Patrick modified them to harmonize with Christian practice, and he mitigated the harsher ones, particularly those that dealt with slaves and taxation of the poor. He introduced the Roman alphabet. In 457 he retired to Saul, where he died. St Patrick

March4 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
In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Celtic cross

March5.Known by many names, including bata in Gaelic - which means, fighting stick
These Ugly Walking Sticks are handcrafted using traditional methods. All the wood used was sourced from the forests of Ireland. Traditional Blackthorn Shillelaghs are selected and cut from dense thickets of the Blackthorn shrub near Arklow in county Wicklow. The Shillelagh forest was widely known throughout the British Isles as being one of the finest areas that oak could be obtained from.. While the stick was carried by the Irishman most everywhere he went, it was at the fair, wake or pattern that most of the fights broke out. When fighting broke out these were the chosen weapon and evn the women got into the fight!
Blackthorn is very sturdy but light-weight. Today Even the most slender of sticks are strong and perfect for leisure walking, health walking, dog walking, hiking, collecting, or as a decorative piece. Shillelagh

March6. Irish peasants subsisted on a diet consisting largely of potatoes, since a farmer could grow triple the amount of potatoes as grain on the same plot of land. A single acre of potatoes could support a family for a year. About half of Ireland's population depended on potatoes for subsistence . Dependent on the potato and the results of the blight were disastrous
During the summer of 1845, a "blight of unusual character" devastated Ireland's potato crop, the basic staple in the Irish diet. A few days after potatoes were dug from the ground, they began to turn into a slimy, decaying, blackish "mass of rottenness." Famine fever"--cholera, dysentery, scurvy, typhus, and infestations of lice--soon spread through the Irish countryside. Observers reported seeing children crying with pain and looking "like skeletons, their features sharpened with hunger and their limbs wasted, so that there was little left but bones." Masses of bodies were buried without coffins, a few inches below the soil.Over the next ten years, more than 750,000 Irish died and another 2 million left their homeland for Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. Within five years, the Irish population was reduced by a quarter Potatoes

March7. Celtic knots are a variety of (endless) knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, first known to have been used by the Celts. Though Celtic knots were being created in pre-Christian times, these knots are most known for their use in the ornamentation of Christian monuments and manuscripts Celtic Knots

March8.
Music is one of the most vital elements of Irish culture. Instruments used most in Irish and Galic Music are, Whistles and flutes, the tin penny, And Uilleann Bagpipes. The most famous and thought of when you hear “Irish” is the Harp and Fiddle. The irish harp known a Clarsach Is a small wood harp held between the knees and plucked by fingers. The strings are made of brass. This harp has been used for centuries in church and castles. The Irish harp is one of Ireland's, and indeed the rest of the world's, most ancient musical instruments (It is one of the oldest musical instruments in history )and a popular symbol on St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Although its popularity is not comparable to that of the shamrock, it occupies an important place in an ensemble, and Irish music played so widely on St. Patrick's Day would be incomplete without this classic instrument. Irish Harp:
The Irish Fiddle is one of the most important instruments in the traditional Irish music. The fiddle itself is identical to the violin, however it is played differently in widely-varying regional styles. Modern fiddlers did much to popularize Irish music in the States in the 1920's. In spite of emigration and a well-developed connection to music imported from Britain and the United States, Irish music has kept many of its traditionals and influenced other forms of music. Irish Fiddle
(2squres)

March9. Probably the most famous of Irish jewelery, the Claddagh ring has a long and rich history. Earliest examples of the ring date back to the 1700s and link the ring to the ancient fishing village of Claddagh just outside the walls of the City of Galway.
Richard Joyce, a Galway native, was captured by Algerian pirates while on a voyage to the West Indies. He was sold as a slave to a Moorish goldsmith who trained him in the art of metalworking. Released sometime around 1690, he returned to his village and to his great joy he found that his love had never given up hope of seeing him again. He created the Claddagh ring to give to her as a wedding ring.
The distinctive ring shows two outstretched hands holding a crowned heart. The heart signifies love, the crown, loyalty and the hands, friendship. There is a particular tradition surrounding how to wear the ring. The heart pointing in to the hand means you have given your heart away, while the heart facing away means you are still available, seeking love. Claddagh

March10.Do you know that there is no such thing as a "Shamrock Plant"? "The true Irish Shamrock, as identified by Nathaniel Colgan c. 1893 is a clover. It is not one of any or many clovers, it is one species, collected from a majority of counties at that time and with the exception of a very few plants, the majority were Trifolium repens or a form of this plant - White clover also known as Dutch Clover".The shamrock is the national flower of Ireland (Eire). According to legend, St. Patrick planted the little plant in Ireland because its three small leaves represented the Holy Trinity. All loyal sons of Eire still wear a shamrock in their lapels on St. Patrick's Day. The name "shamrock" is Anglicized from Seamrog, which means trefoil (three-leaved). The shamrock appears with the thistle and the rose on the British coat of arms, because these are the national flowers of Ireland, Scotland and England.

One leaf is for FAITH... The second for HOPE...

The third for LOVE... And the fourth for LUCK! Shamrock

March11. The Blarney Stone is a legendary block of limestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, near Cork, Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of gab (great eloquence). The stone was set into a tower of the castle in 1446. The Blarney Stone is supposed to be half of the original Stone of Scone. The stone itself is set in the wall below the battlements and to kiss it, one has to lean backwards (holding on to an iron railing) from the parapet walk. Today, the word blarney means clever, flattering, or coaxing talk.Blarney Stone

March12.

In general, the Irish feared fairies, who they thought could kidnap brides babies, They felt that listening to fairy music made you lose your sense of right and wrong.; And, some also feel that the fairy mounds in the land could have been small forts or gardens of the leprechauns.; It is said that some farmers will not disturb fairy mounds as it's said to bring bad luck. Some fairy mounds can be seen today. Whether they are naturally made or made by fairies, is up for argument. But are fairies real? Some say that when Christianity became popular, that the ancient Gods were retained as “tiny beings” in human minds Fairies

March13. Leprechauns and the Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow: Among all the kinds of fairies and elves you've ever known, the Leprechauns seem to be the best loved of all Ireland's little creatures. The name 'leprechaun' traces its origins to "luchorpan" translated into 'small body'. The leprechauns were a group of fairies never over 2 feet tall. These little people were considered very unsociable. They lived alone and their aloofness was attributed to the belief that each Leprechaun obsessively guarded his pot of gold said to be hidden at the end of a rainbow ! If you catch a Leprechaun you can bully him into telling you where his treasure is, but be sure not to let him out of your sight or even blink - or he'll disappear ! Leprechauns and the Pot of Gold (2squares)

March14. The Early history of Irish dance reveals a constant shifting of population through migration. Everyone brought their preferred types of dance and music. Amongst the first practitioners of Irish Dance was Druids, who danced in religious rituals honouring the oak tree and the sun. Traces of their circular dances survive in the ring dances of today. When the Celts arrived in Ireland from Europe over 2000 years ago, they brought their own folk dances. Around 400AD after the conversion to Christianity, new priests used the pagan style of ornamentation in illuminating their manuscripts, while peasants retained the same qualities in their music and dancing. During the 18th century, the dancing master appeared in Ireland. He was a wandering teacher who traveled from village to village in a district, teaching dance to peasants. Dance Masters were flamboyant characters who wore bright clothes and carried staffs. Young pupils did not know the difference between left and right so the dance master would tie straw or hay to his pupils’ left or right foot and instruct them to “lift hay foot” or “lift straw foot” Group dances were developed by masters to hold the interest of their less talented pupils. The standard of these dances were still high. Solo dancers were held in high esteem and often doors were taken of hinges and placed on the ground for the soloists to dance on. Costumes worn by Irish dancers today commemorate the clothing of the past, based on Irish peasant dress worn 200 years ago. Most are hand-embroidered with Celtic designs and copies of the Tara brooch are often worn on the shoulder, which holds a cape that falls over the back. Male dancers’ clothes are less embellished but steeped in history. They wear a plain kilt and jacket with a folded cloak draped from the shoulder. Both male and female dancers today wear hornpipe shoes, and for reels and jigs, soft shoes, similar to ballet pumps. Irish Dancer

March15.

Irish Coffee: Black coffee, sugar and Irish whiskey topped with whipped cream was supposedly created in the early 1950s by Joe Sheridan, a bartender at the Shannon Airport. It was publicized by travel writer Stanton Delaplane after he discovered it during his travels. The wiskey helps retain body warmth while the sugar and cream provide energy The Irish do not drink only that which is commercially available in the Pubs- Nor do they consume only alcoholic beverages-Their milk and cream is the best in the world, sometimes the local water contains the flavor of the ages and of the peat and Their tea is wonderful!- Another traditional drink is GingerBeer.
IrishCoffee GingerBeer (2 squares)

March16. The Irish Setter comes from Ireland and was bred originally to hunt small game - bird setting and retrieving. The Irish Setter is also known by the other name of the Red Setter. This dog is classified as one of the Sporting Dog Group .The Irish Setter was first Registered by the American Kennel Club in 1878. This happy, playful breed is known for its Joy of Living and thrives on activity. It is faster and has more endurance than other setter breeds. In general, Irish Setters are friendly, enjoy human company, and actively look for other dogs with which to play. They are excellent with children. Due to the breed's need for frequent activity, this is an inappropriate dog for inactive families or apartment dwellers. The coat is moderately long and silky and of a deep red color, and it requires maintenance. The undercoat is abundant in winter weather. Irish Setters range in height from 25 to 27 inches (64-69 cm), and weigh 60 to 70 pounds (27-32 kg). Irish Setter

March17.

Erin Go Bragh (also commonly spelled Erin Go Braugh) is the Anglicization of a Gaelic phrase used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as "Ireland Forever", It may seem surprising that a phrase which has come to so strongly represent Ireland could have come not from the Irish (Gaeilge) but instead from the Scottish (Gàidhlig). However, a Scottish song from the 19th century entitled "Erin-go-Bragh" may have had something to do with this unusual progression. It tells the story of a Highland Scot who is mistaken for an Irishman. Erin Go Bragh

My name's Duncan Campbell from the shire of Argyll

I've travelled this country for many's the mile

I've travelled through Ireland, Scotland and a'

And the name I go under's bold Erin-go-bragh

One night in Auld Reekie as I walked down the street

A saucy big polis I chanced for to meet

He glowered in my face and he gi'ed me some jaw

Sayin' "When cam' ye over, bold Erin-go-bragh?"