Greetings & Blessings to all,
 
 "Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ar chlann mhór dhomhanda na nGael, sa bhaile agus ar fud na cruinne, ar an lá náisiúnta ceiliúrtha seo.
 
Warmest St Patrick's Day greetings to every member of our global Irish family and to our many friends around the world."
 
 We hope this special St. Patrick's edition finds you in good health, good spirits and good company. If this is your first issue many thanks for joining us and if you like our musings and meanderings, please feel free to forward them on to your family and friends.
 
It’s been a very hectic St. Patrick’s Day weekend which included the O’Flahetty Blarney Bash for the first time in a couple of years. It was mighty craic as they would say in Ireland!  We stayed over, then stayed for a brilliant breakfast before heading home, still tired, but happy. This morning, we attended the funeral of a fine irishman - Denny Devine who passed away last Wednesday. We had asked for our readers to pray for him and perhaps a miracle, but in the end, we were praying for his merciful release. After the funeral we headed over to our son’s bar - the B-list in Bellevue, Ky  and toasted Denny’s emory. So, here we are, still tired,  but tring to  to accomplish what we set out to do for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend.  Which includes this special edition. 
 
In the interest of time, we reached back to last year’s issue  which covered just about everything we want to include this time round. So we are unashamedly using it as a template for 2014 edition. 
 
At  this time of year all of us  are winter weary and ready to welcome a respite from Lenten austerities.  So... as  the poet said...
 
The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;   
God's in His heaven,
All's right with the world! 
 

 
FUND-RAISER
 
Our annual drive is almost over - but not the fun of selecting   winners of several CDs and books. We’re extending the appeal to March 30th, so There’s still time to get in on the drawing by making a donation via PayPal to this e-mail address:
bhaggerty@irishcultureandcustoms.com 
  Or via snail mail:
 
5814 Blue Spruce 
Cincinnati OH 45224
 
All contributions of $5 or more will receive an Irish angel pictured.
 
Meanwhile, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have made a donation, especially those of you who also included compliments and words of encouragement. We treasure every single one of them!
 
 
 
LINKS 
 
IRISH CORNER CARD
We have created a special card exclusively for our readers here:
http://www.irishcorner.com/epickup.php?card_id=r4d824ed8a7a96
 
HAIL GLORIOUS ST. PATRICK
 This hymn was always played on St. patrick’s Day when Bridget was growing up. This is an outstanding  version which serves to remind his fans how much we miss the amazing voice of Frank Patterson, RIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7H4HumAbTU  
 
GIVE UP YER AUL SINS -THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK  
We have listened to this numerous times and just can’t help but want to hear it again and again. It’s the story  of St. Patrick narrated by a little Dublin girl named Mary and she is  accompanied by an animated video. It’s from the series by Brown Bag Productions and we are certain you will want to watch and listen more than once. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0q-_gWOYjY
 
MUSIC FOR EVERY TASTE
If you  want to listen to some lovely traditional airs amidst  the cacaphony of so called Irish drinking songs, please click:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUT7aGT1JxM
Or this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNfPRUkXJ7Y
Or for fourteen different genres of Irish music,  Radio Celt is yer wan!
http://www.accuradio.com/#!/world/radiocelt/
 
ST PATRICK ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL
 You could spend hours exploring what's on offer! Featured are videos, history, a quiz, destinations and much more. http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=mini_home&mini_id=1082
 
TEN WAYS TO CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK’S DAY
St. Patrick may have exiled snakes from Ireland but he didn't banish the fun.
http://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/travel/discover-ireland/2013/0315/376809-discover-ten-ways-to-celebrate-st-patricks-day/ 
 
THE IRISH PAGE - Slane - Bí Thuse mo Shúile
This time around, the Hennesseys offer a page in celebration of the high holiday as our dear friend  Bill Deegan calls it. http://www.irishpage.com/SONGS/SLANE.htm
 
ST. PATRICK’S DAY ARTICLES
From our homepage you can click through to several articles appropriate to the day that’s in it:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/
 
HEADLINES FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY
By about 9:00 am on march 17th, we’ll have headlines and links to all the good news. We keep two weeks worth of headlines here:
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/01News/Home.html
 
 
 
So there you have it until we send our regular March edition at the end of the month. Until then, we’ll take our leave that we think is most appropriate for today:
 
The Irish... 
Be they kings or poets or farmers, 
They’re a people of great worth;
They keep company with angels 
and find heaven here on earth
 
And a blessing attributed to St. Patrick - by the way,  It’s said if you ask for St. Patrick’s intercession on his feast day, your prayer will be answered)
 
"As you arise today, may the strength of God pilot you, the power of God uphold you, the wisdom of God guide you. May the eye of God look before you, the ear of God hear you, the word of God speak for you. May the hand of God protect you, the way of God lie before you, the shield of God defend you, the host of God save you. Amen."
 
And. as they say in Ireland,  mind yourself.
 
Slan agus Beannacht,
 
 
 
 
Bridget & Russ
Get down on your knees and thank God you're still on your feet.
And this is for our dear friend Mary O’Hara who asked us to bring this phrase back:
May you be seven times better, a year from today!!
In the Irish:
Go mba seacht bhfearr a bheas tu bliain o inniu!!
 
 
 
LEAVE ‘EM LAUGHING
 
Blarney, as defined by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, is flattery so thin we like it, as opposed to baloney which is flattery so thick it can't be true.
 
And back by popular demand in honour of the most important day in the Irish calendar:
 
St. Patrick's Birthday
On the eighth day of March it was, some people say,
That Saint Patrick at midnight first saw the day.
While others declare 'twas the ninth he was born,
And 'twas all a mistake between midnight and morn;
For mistakes will occur in a hurry and shock,
and some blam'd the babby-and some blam'd the clock-
Till with all their cross questions sure no one could know
If the child was too fast-or the clock was too slow.
Now the first faction fight in old Ireland, they say,
Was all on account of Saint Patrick's birthday.
Some fought for the eighth-for the ninth more would die,
And who wouldn't see right, sure they blacken'd his eye!
At last both the factions so positive grew,
That each kept a birthday, so Pat then had two.
Till Father Mulcahy, who confessed them their sins,
Said, "Ye can't have two birthdays, unless ye be twins."
Says he, "Don't be fightin' for eight or for nine,
Don't be always dividin'-but sometimes combine;
Combine eight with nine, and seventeen is the mark,
So let that be his birthday." "Amen," says the clerk.
"If he wasn't a twins, sure our hist'ry will show
That, at least, he is worth any two saints that we know!"
Then they all drowned the shamrock-which completed their bliss,
And we keep up the practice from that day to this.
(Edited and adapted from Dick's Irish Dialect Recitations, Wm. B. Dick, Editor, New York, Dick & Fitzgerald, Publisher, 1879)
 
 
 
Powered by YMLP.com