Irish jwd'ers: Your culture and pastimes

rebel8

OK so after complaining about my city's pathetic tradition of celebrating St. Pat's Day by mass alcohol poisoning, I thought I would try to find out some actual cultural things about Ireland. I tried the Internet but almost everything I found was either pictures of green beer or drunk Americans holding plastic shamrocks next to their green beer.

To paraphrase myself, it is so sad to boil an entire culture down to alcohol and tacky decorations. We've got a lot of Irish immigrants here but the real culture is invisible.

So what do you suggest we do here to get a little taste of Ireland? Watch rugby (if I can even get it here)? What else?

Seriously, besides the beer, all we have is the occasional shamrock tattoo.

megsmomma

*crickets chirping*

Maybe it is just about the beer?? LOL!

My hubby is a "Malone"....and he never has said anything from his Irish past that we should do....but he does like beer!

BlackSwan of Memphis

Well, go to Church. Seems like I have heard more then once....

St Patrcks day is a Holy day for Irish Catholics.

Here is the Lorica of St Patrick:

Lorica of Saint Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

Apparently, too, the ol' corned beef and cabbage is an Irish American tradition. My dad used to eat Mutton. A lot of lamb and tatos (from what I remember) are the food of choice as well as fish I guess.

Tea and shortbread is an option. Before the advent of technology, ya might have found people just hanging round together in homes playing their own music or just taking care of life.

If you haven't seen Dancing at Lughnassa, you might want to check it out. It's set in 1930's Ireland in a smaller village.

Here is a site you can look through for Irish traditions.

http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/