For years a lovely plaque with the words of this fun Irish toast hung in the guest bathroom at our house. I cannot tell you how many people came out with smiles upon their faces. And, reading it always brings a smile to my face.
It’s a fun toast, should you have need for one.
Last Thursday, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at my house. Our plates of corn beef and cabbage sat on woven place mats with shamrocks and Irish harps. A pot of shamrocks was our centerpiece. Not real shamrocks, but gloxinia, which has the clover-shaped leaves and little white flowers.
The corn beef and cabbage are totally an American-Irish tradition for St. Patrick’s Day. You’ll not find it served in Ireland.
While we ate, we talked of my recent trip to Ireland and all the St. Patrick legends I heard as we visited cathedrals and castles. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and March 17 is, in fact, a religious feast day.
For those who didn’t know, St. Patrick himself was British, born in Roman Britain in the fourth century. In his teens, Irish raiders kidnapped him. He worked as a shepherd and “found God,” who called him to evangelize Ireland. Later he became a priest and spent years converting the Irish pagans. He died on 17 March. Over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Ireland’s foremost saint.
Technically, St. Patrick was never canonized by a pope as saints of the modern day church are. There wasn’t a formal canonization process in the Church’s first millennium, so most saints from that period were granted the title if they were either martyrs or seen as extraordinarily holy. But Saint Patrick is revered as holy by the Irish. Pictures like this one can be found everywhere on the island.
One of the stops on my trip along the west of Ireland was at The Rock of Cashel, seat of the overkings of Munster where St. Patrick baptized the grandsons of Conall Corc. The legend says during the baptism the saint’s sharply pointed crozier pierced the son’s foot, who, believing it a part of the ceremony, suffered in silence. Since the baptism occurred in the 10th century, who knows if the story is fact or fiction.
On the same trip, I went to Croagh Patrick, the mountain which overlooks Clew Bay in County Mayo. It is known as the holiest mountain in Ireland because St. Patrick fasted for forty days on the mountain summit in 441 AD. Now individuals and groups come from all over the world to climb to the summit and celebrate mass at the modern chapel at the top.
The first stop on the pilgrimage is Saint Patrick’s statue erected in 1928 by Reverend Father Patterson with money he collected in America towards the rebuilding of Saint Mary’s Church in Westport. Because it was late in the day and raining – not raining raining but what the Irish call spitting, we only hiked as far as the statue. 
We also made stops at Saint Patrick’
s Cathedral in Dublin where legend says St. Patrick baptized converts at a well that once existed in the park alongside the church.
The most common St Patrick’s Day symbol is the shamrock, a representation of the Holy Trinity. St. Patrick is said to have used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity to Irish pagans.
While parades, dancing, special foods, and a whole lot of green are fun ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and our Irish heritage, it’s also good to pause and remember who Saint Patrick was.
Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
8 – The number of dogs in the house – our 6 plus Miller and Jengo. These are the dogs we often keep while their owner is out of town. This is the first time to have them since acquiring Max and Penny – Tucker’s puppies.
7 – The number of people working out of our house. Rachel is housesitting elsewhere but comes by for meals. Matt and Catherine are home from college. Catherine brought her finance. Bill, our exchange student, is here along with Brian and me.
6 – The number of cars at our house the day Matt grilled ribs and steaks. He invited a friend to join the fun.
5 – The number of free roosters Brian agreed to take.
4 – The number of free roosters that actually made it into our cage. One escaped during transfer and was last seen flying down the street.
3 – The number of days Catherine and Caleb are here
2 – The number of nights Matt slept on the floor.
1 – The number of bee stings received this week – remarkable considering all the other numbers. Chicken Wrangler Sara’s ear was the recipient.
0 – the number of regrets I have about Spring Break.
Having a house full of chaos is how we roll on Miller Farm :)
Wednesday is words of wisdom day on the blog. For March, I’ve been sharing Irish blessings, curses, and sayings.
Today I’ve a chart of Irish slang for you. The Irish do have a way with words.
| a useless fellow | He’s fit to mind mice at a crossroads. |
| someone who committed some small fault | ‘Tis only a stepmother would blame you.’ |
| a tall, large woman | That’s a fine doorful of a woman. |
| a gossiper | She has a tongue that would clip a hedge. |
| a poor, thin creature | The breath is only just in and out of him, and the grass doesn’t know of him walking over it. |
| a coarse, ill-mannered person using poor language | What would you expect out of a pig but a grunt? |
| trying to change a stubborn person’s mind | You might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone. |
| very bad music | Aw, that’s the tune the old cow died of. |
| one who overstays their welcome | If that man went to a wedding, he’d stay for the christening. |
| a talkative person | That man would talk the teeth out of a saw. |
| a person who paid too much for a cow | He bought every hair in her tail. |
| a clever thief | He’d steal the sugar out of your punch. |
| praise of strong whiskey | I felt it like a torchlight procession going down my throat. |
| a woman who made a bad marriage | She burnt her coal and did not warm herself. |
| bad aim in shooting | He wouldn’t hit a hole in a ladder. |
| an impish child | That one suffers from a double dose of original sin. |
| an unfortunate one | He is always in the field when luck is on the road. |
| very wet weather | It’s a fine day for young ducks. |
| someone who always plans carefully | If he’s not fishing he’s mending his nets. |
Find anything you could use?
March is Irish month for me and for many who are of Irish ancestry. To celebrate, I’m running a newsletter sign up campaign.
Starting today, March 14, through March 31, subscribe to my free author newsletter to enter the contest.
WHY A CONTEST?
The way social media works, not everyone sees all my blog or Facebook posts and/or tweets on Twitter. When I post news about a new release or contest, you may miss out.
The only way to stay on top of new releases (there will be two this year) is a subscription to my newsletter.
Subscribers are the first to see new covers, hear news of releases and interesting tidbits I stumble across in researching a manuscript. Plus lots of fun stuff and giveaways.
WHAT DO YOU WIN?
Two lucky emails will be drawn from all NEW subscribers and receive souvenirs I bought back from Ireland plus a $5 gift card from Amazon.
HOW DO YOU ENTER?
Simple. Click this link and complete the newsletter form.
HOW WILL WINNERS BE NOTIFIED?
Winners will be announced April 2 on
Here on the blog
Twitter @Judythe2
In the April newsletter
If you see your name, email me your snail mail address using my website contact link and your prize will be shipped.
A Blog from Chicken Wrangler Sara
Rachel commissioned little coops for each of her six bantam runs.
She actually traded a full day of babysitting for them. She watched eight children for 12 hours in exchange for six A-frame chicken coops. I’m not sure who got the better end of that deal.
The bantams are happy. They now have a safe place to sleep at night and a shelter for when it rains. They also roost on the top of the coops.
One day a chicken slid down the side. So the coop triples as a shelter, a roost, and a playground. What a great deal!
What more could a chicken want?
March brings St. Patrick’s Day and around my house, all things Irish appear. The air rings with Irish music. You’ll frequently catch me dancing a little jig along with Celtic Woman.
Irish music is such an important part of Ireland. Whether the fiddler on a corner in Dublin or the man on the country lane blowing his Irish whistle or a late-night session at the local pub, you’ll find toe-tapping, hand-clapping music everywhere.
I could listen all day. And often do.
These photos were taken at sessions we attended on one of our trips.
As the session on the right was breaking up a native Irish speaker leaned over and said this about the music we’d been listening to, “Ah I tell you, it was great music, ‘twould make the water stand out in your eyes.” 
And, indeed tears did sparkle in my eyes that night.
Nothing is more wonderful than the combination of traditional music and dancing. On a trip to Bunratty Castle in 2006, we attended an Irish Evening at the Corn Barn where the magic of Irish traditional music, song, and the local dancers provided a show we still talk about. Watch this video describing the event. I promise it will put you in St. Patrick’s Day mood.
All this month I’ve blogged about love and things I love. What better way to end the month and lead into next month where the theme will be all things Irish.
This short film, written by Kealan O’Rourke and produced by Trinity University, Dublin, is unique love story and so very Irish. It’s about shadow creatures that play throughout the night in a fairy tale village. One particular shadow is tired of his mischievous life and discovers something altogether more magical.
Enjoy!
the greatest refreshment in life. ~Pablo Picasso
a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination. ~Voltaire
a game that two can play and both win. ~Eva Gabor
an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. ~Robert Frost
a single soul inhabiting two bodies. ~Aristotle
I’ll end this month of love quotes with the reprise from “You are Sixteen” from Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music, which says it all.
A bell is no bell ’til you ring it,
A song is no song ’til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay –
Love isn’t love
‘Til you give it away.
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