Friday, March 13, 2009

St. Patrick's Day: Not too late.


As I was putting together this post, I became aware that St. Patrick's Day has been moved this year. That's right. It isn't on March 17th, but March 14th--so that it may be celebrated outside of Holy Week. (Whatever that is. (see below))


I'm not sure whether we will do a mini-unit study on all things Irish, but the idea has some appeal. My father's ancestors left "The Auld Countrie" right as the potato famine ended. However, we can't really claim to be Irish because 1) we're Protestants and 2) apparently we were in Scotland a mere two hundred years prior to that. Given those two facts, the less said about claims to Irish ancestry, the better.

However, just in case I yearn for a pint of Guinness and a few bites of gorgonzolla, I've collected a few resources better suited to share with the wee ones.

The history of St. Patrick, from the History Channel itself.

Dover publications has a maze and some candidates for colouring pages at this sample page.

DLTK has some themed worksheets.

Here's a nice little collection of Irish Fairy Tales. There's also Louey Chisholm's and Joseph Jacob's at The Baldwin Project.

I have no idea of "authentic" Irish fare, really, but these recipes look close. Unfortunately, other than the potato, there doesn't seem to be a lot in common in our cuisine. (Seafood and lamb are exorbitant luxuries here).

Perhaps a few scones and a cup of tea while we read a Celtic tale or two will be a sufficiently pleasant salute.

1 comment:

scb said...

I am truly puzzled by the "moving" of St. Patrick's Day... maybe somewhere they moved the riotous celebrations, or something, but moving a Saint's Day???

Also the reason puzzles me. So it won't interfere with Holy Week? Holy Week is the week after Palm Sunday, including Good Friday and leading up to Easter... which this year is celebrated on April 12. Nowhere near March 17th.

I don't get it.

Anyway, if I can consider myself to be part Irish, so can you. There are many people other than Catholics in Ireland, and many people whose Irish ancestors have their roots in Scotland, especially in Northern Ireland. They're still Irish. (My great-grandfather was, in fact, an Irish Catholic, who moved to England, met and married an Englishwoman, and converted to Protestantism. I still figure I have some Irish in me... and once, my mother was asked if she was originally from Ireland, because the person could hear something of Ireland in the way she spoke. These things run deep.)