Page 42 - the NOISE March 2016

KISS ME, I'M IRISH
FUN THINGS ABOUT ST. PATTY'S DAY
STORY BY
clair anna rose
Prior to researching St. Patrick’s Day I realized I don’t know much about St. Patrick or where many of the St. Patty’s Day traditions come from. I have garbled snippets of information I’ve retained over the years, like he “drove the snakes from Ireland,” and if you kiss an Irish person it’s the next best thing to kissing the Blarney Stone (and getting good luck.)
Every St. Patrick’s Day of my adult life spent downtown has been a whirlwind of green hats with tassels, green beer (which I politely declined) and curious observation of all the
“traditions” going on. Here’s a little St. Patty’s Day de-scramble.
SAINT PATRICK OF IRELAND
Actually of Britain, St. Patrick (born 387) was kidnapped by pirates and enslaved in Pagan/ Druid Ireland. After dreaming of God telling him to escape by going to the coast, he caught a ship back to Britain. Another dream prompted him to become ordained and later, after he became a bishop he went back to Ireland to spread the Gospel. He often used a shamrock (a 3-leaf clover) to describe the holy trinity, a symbol still displayed for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. As for the legend of St. Patrick driving all the snakes from Ireland — it’s an allegory for the mass conversion of pagans to Christianity during his time in Ireland — so far there has been no evidence of snakes ever existing on the emerald Isle. The only native reptile to Ireland is the viviparous lizard. An invasive species discovered in the 1960s is the closest thing to a snake Ireland has ever had — a legless lizard called the “slow worm.”
IN A PINCH
Ever encounter the one kid in school who would argue about the shade of green you were wearing on St. Patrick’s Day? And say it wasn’t the right shade of green — and give you a hard, painful pinch? The tradition of pinching people on St. Patrick’s Day who don’t wear green is an American tradition.
So why do people pinch each other if they aren’t wearing green? This tradition stems from Leprechaun lore. Leprechauns are fabled to be little old men (a type of fairy) who cobble and repair shoes for other fairies. They are curmudgeony, like to be alone and live in caves far under the Irish soil. They are also fabled to have a stock of hidden treasure, and if one were lucky enough to find a leprechaun by following the sound of their hammers, they could force the leprechaun to lead them to the treasure. However, Leprechauns are tricky — they will often try to convince their captor to take a gold coin (which would disappear or turn into something of no value after he was free), make three wishes (of which the old idiom
“be careful what you wish for” would have to be taken seriously), or he would try to trick his captor into taking their eyes off him — because if you didn’t keep an eye on him, he would vanish into thin air.
Bring this legend over to America, and somewhere along the way it came to be believed the only color leprechauns couldn’t see was green, and wearing green would make you invisible to fairies and leprechauns who would come out on St. Patrick’s Day and pinch anyone they saw — so wearing green on St. Patty’s Day became a must. If someone forgot? Give ‘em a good pinch to remind them!
KISS ME, I'M IRISH!
I never bothered to question this St. Patty’s Day saying. As the Granddaughter of an Irish woman (Virginia Clare Connelly), I loved the idea of someone kissing me just because I’m Irish (in part). I, however, scrambled this “tradition” in my mind and used my misinformation to pressure boys into kissing me on St. Patrick’s Day, saying, “It’s bad luck not to kiss an Irish girl on Saint Patrick’s Day!” Uh, whoops, not true. Sorry boys.
The tradition stems from the Blarney Stone, in some renditions of the tale a witch placed a spell on the stone to grant whoever kissed it the gift of gab — or the power of eloquent persuasion. If you can’t kiss the Blarney stone located in Blarney Castle way over yonder in Ireland, you could kiss the next best thing — an Irish person. Perhaps a kiss will transfer a wee bit o’ luck to you.
Have a happy St. Patrick’s Day, whether you go chasing leprechauns, look for people to pinch or find a genuine Irish person to kiss!
| Clair Anna Rose wears her “Kiss Me, I’m Irish!” shirt all year long.
editor@thenoise.us
42 • MARCH 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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