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Welcome to the Irish Culture & Customs newsletter which was voted the #1 non-fiction ezine for 2002 in the Preditors/Editors Readers Poll. It is published every Saturday and sent out to nearly 1,000 readers all over the world. You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for it - God Bless you! If you'd like to read past issues, they are archived at:
http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/pubarchive.php?Herself
If, for any reason, you wish to unsubcribe, instructions are at the end - but we do hope you'll stay with us.
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Greetings & Blessings to Everyone,
Lovely to be back on this first day of March. When Bridget was little, her mother always said, "Pinch, punch, first day of the month - white rabbit!" This was supposedly said for good luck. We have no idea what it means, but we do hope March, 2003 will be fortunate for you and your family.
We still have quite a bit of snow on the ground, but the long-range weather forecast is calling for temperatures in the fifties by the end of the week! We'll be watching with great anticipation for those first snowdrops. According to the news, many February records for snowfall have been broken, with Boston leading the list -in excess of forty inches!
It was another hectic week in the Haggerty household, but no complaints. Except perhaps for a bit of a moan and groan about several towns in Ireland cancelling their St. Patrick's Day parades because they can't afford the insurance! Aaaagh. Seems as if the Irish are becoming as lawsuit-happy as the USA. More's the pity.
Ah well, enough about that. The week saw another great increase in new subscribers; we're so close to 1,000, Bridget's beside herself. Thanks so much for signing up - and please, do continue to spread the word. Also, keep in mind that we're going to reward that 1000th member with a little pressie. Haven't decided what it will be yet - we'll let you know.
Anyway, a warm welcome to all of you. We hope this week's edition finds you in good health and good spirits. Also, a Happy St. David's Day if you have any Welsh blood in the veins!
We made quite a few changes on the site this week, including a new roll-over for our wedding page in the left-hand margin. If you know of someone who is getting married, please let them know about this section. And, if you're interested in Irish courtship, there are intros to several articles here.
We're also happy to report that many of you have been shopping through the site. For example, in February, we doubled the number of amazon purchases we had in January. Go raibth maith agat! However, we discovered something about amazon we didn't know before. Apparently, in order to earn a 15% commission, a visitor must click through on a specific item and immediately put it in the shopping cart. Otherwise, if the visitor goes elsewhere on amazon and then comes back and purchases the item that they clicked through, we earn 5%! It doesn't seem fair to us, but there you are. We also learned that the 15% applies only to items that are discounted from 10 to 30%. So, please keep this in mind when you shop. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate the purchases you've made of everything from tweed caps to shamrock seeds to Irish flags to St. Pat's Cards - and that's in addition to all the books, videos and CDs! Every little bit helps to support our efforts.
Enough of the blither and blather - here's the latest:
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Help us keep this newsletter free by visiting our sponsors. This week, we are pleased to welcome Celtic Shamrock. Their site is beautifully done - and very easy to navigate. Check out all of their items for St. Patrick's Day! For example, how about a pair of lucky shamrock socks, made in Ireland? The perfect accessory for the parade or the party! Please click: http://www.celticshamrock.com/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=536&aff=34037
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IN THIS ISSUE:
A Bit of The Wit
Joke of The Week
Did You Know?
Quotes & Quips
Know Your Irish Writers & Books?
New This Week
The Week Ahead
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A BIT O' THE WIT
New York is my Lourdes where I go for spiritual refreshment...a place where you are least likely to be bitten by a wild goat. Brendan Behan
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OUR FAVORITE JOKE OF THE WEEK
Not Irish this go-round, but very topical and good for a giggle. This was sent in by Hartson. Thanks, HD!
Subject: FW: Terrorist Alert
We have just been notified by Internal Security that there have been six suspected terrorists working out of your office. Five of the six have been apprehended. Bin Sleepin, Bin Loafin, Bin Goofin, Bin Lunchin and Bin Drinkin have been taken into custody. Security advised us that they could not find anyone fitting the description of the sixth cell member, Bin Workin, at your office. However, security is confident that anyone who looks like he's Bin Workin will be very easy to spot. You are obviously not a suspect at this time.
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DID YOU KNOW...
1. In 1948, Harry Truman was the first American president to attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City?
2. One of the more recent school-yard customs is to pinch anyone not wearing green on St. Patrick's Day?
3. In 1999, the world's smallest St. Patrick's Day parade was held In Dripsey, Co. Cork? It was just 25 yards long and went from from one pub to another.
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QUIPS, QUOTES & ANECDOTES - PROVERBS & TOASTS, TOO
And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together. Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels
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KNOW YOUR IRISH WRITERS & BOOKS?
The answers to last week's quiz:
1. St. Patrick's Purgatory - Robert Easting
2. In the Steps of St. Patrick - Brian De Breffny
3. The Wisdom of St. Patrick - Greg Tobin
Applause, applause for this week's literary sleuths:
Ellen Parodi
Namely Gifts at http://namelygifts.com
Personalized Name Keepsakes and Gifts
Featuring St. Patrick's Day items at http://namelygifts.com/St.%20Patricks%20Day.htm
And as always - Our Everyday Heroes http://namelygifts.com/OtherIdeas%20Heroes.htm
Hartson Dowd
Irish Cards for St. Patrick's Day
http://www.irishcorner.com
Helen Dowd
If you like stories about cats, you might enjoy my most recent entry:
http://occupytillicome.online-ministries.com/articles/messages/55.html - The Tale of a Blind Cat (As anyone who know us will verify, the Haggertys are definitely pushovers for feline furballs; we thoroughly enjoyed this sweet story about "Baby" - Thanks, Helen!)
Deirdre McKiernan-Hetzler
Who has the longest continuously running tour from the States to Ireland? According to Terry Flynn Tours of Ireland it's the McKiernans of Irish Books &
Media:
http://www.irishbook.com/tours.htm
Tim Murphy
To find Irish sites:
http://slarti.ucd.ie/maps/ireland.html
Alice Herlihy
A Small Irish Garden - by a lady who lives in Dublin. If you like to putter about in the yard, this is a very informative site. (We visited - and we agree! Thanks, Alice)
http://www.esatclear.ie/~emal/
This week's quiz - who wrote:
1. The Works of St. Patrick
2. Patrick, The Pilgrim Apostle of Ireland
3. St. Patrick and Irish Christianity
Hint: all three titles can be found on amazon - please click here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385418493/qid%3D1041089301/sr%3D2-2/irishcultucus-20
Send us the correct answers to two out of three and the rewards are:
1. If you have a web site, send us your URL plus a short description and we'll publish it in the next newsletter. If you don't have a web site, please nominate a favorite. Also, please remember that we list our sleuths in the order of entries received.
2. Receive a correct entry into the current "So You Think You're Irish" trivia contest. (In fairness to those of you who go to the trouble of actually finding the answers to the trivia contest, you'll get a bonus entry!)
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HOME PAGE - NEW OR REPUBLISHED FROM OUR INDEX THIS PAST WEEK:
1. Article: Party Down in Dublin Town, 2003
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/StPatDublin03.html
3. An Irish Wedding:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Weddings/Weddings.html
4. The Irish Kitchen: Recipes for Shrove Tuesday (these will be posted later today)
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/2Kitch/1Home.html
5. Basic Irish: This week, we offer words and phrases related to the house and home
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/3Focloir/1Home.html
6. Circle of Prayer: March 2nd ends our third Novena in this cycle and the fourth one begins on Monday, March 3rd. If you would like to join us in daily prayer or meditation, please click:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Blessings/CirclePrayer.html
7. Think You're Irish? Our new quiz for March has been posted, as well as the answers for February:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/TriviaContest.html
All entries must be in by midnight, EST on March 31.
The winner of the February quiz will be notified by email today, and if permission is granted, his or her name will be published on the site and in next week's newsletter.
NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING:
Early next week, we'll be posting St. Patrick's Day Around the World, 2003, as well as articles from last year, including I, Patrick a Sinner. We will also have a new story for children, and recipes for Lent. As always, we will update the news and history each day, post a new blessing on Sunday and a new quote on Wednesday. We welcome your submissions - they are a big help to us - but please read our guidelines first. All items we consider for publication must be appropriately Irish and family oriented:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/.html
So, that's the lot for another week. Except for the following: Eileen, one of our subscribers, and George of the Irish Heritage newsletter, both sent us the same email message. We thought you might find it of interest: With the possibility of war, many people have thought of calling for a day of prayer and fasting. In the scriptures, the number three represents the Holy Trinity. So, this Monday, which is 3-3-03 seems to be an appropriate day for people to pray together. "Faith is the doorway that all miracles come through, but prayer is the key that unlocks the door."
May you and yours enjoy a week filled with blessings and may God keep you in the palm of His hand. And, as they say in Ireland, mind yourself.
All the best
Bridget & Russ
Get down on your knees and thank God you're still on your feet
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Help us keep this newsletter free - please visit the following sponsor:
Show your Irish colours on Saint Patrick's Day with a Party Pack from Celtic Links. Everything you need for an authentic Irish hooley - hats, scarf, tie, CD of party songs and more, shipped free to the US, Ireland and the UK.
http://www.celticlinks.com/cgi-bin/cl/00194.html?mv_pc=irishcultureandcustoms
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