St. Patrick's Day: Your Authentically Irish Guide

[Absinthe]

St. Patrick's Day: An Authentically Irish Guide

Ah, begorrah and top of the morning' to ya! 'Tis that time of the year again where people celebrate all things Irish... right? Things like fighting leprechauns and lucky clover and speaking Gaelic. Right?

Well, your old pal Absinthe is here to clear up some common misconceptions and share some trivia about my beautiful homeland, Ireland, in the lead up to St. Patrick's Day! Lá Fhéile Pádraig!

The Famous Four-Leafed Clover

...Has almost nothing to do with Ireland or Irish culture. The shamrock, however, is one of our national symbols, and is a motif often associated with St. Patrick! It is said to have been used to help explain the concept of the holy trinity in the Christian faith to the Irish people. It's not uncommon to see Irish folk a bunch of this three leaved plant on St. Patrick's day - as a symbol of Irishness, rather than to bring luck or good fortune.

St Patty vs St Paddy

The correct answer is Paddy! It's a common irritation for many Irish internet dwellers this time of year. While you might think that Pat or Patty is the natural choice when it comes to calling the holiday by its diminutive nickname, in Irish, Patrick is Padraig [pawed-rig], which becomes Paddy. Patty is not a nickname you'll hear often in Ireland; and if it is, it generally refers to a woman.

So, Do You Speak Gaelic?

The Irish language, or Gaeilge, is the national language of Ireland. While it's a mandatory subject at school, most people don't speak it once they leave school... or indeed, outside of that class. There are regions, called Gaeltachta, where Irish is still the primary language... but even there, people will still speak fluent English. You won't need to worry about learning a new language, no matter where you travel if you visit - but it's always appreciated!

As a fun fact, there are several dialects! Connacht, Ulster and Munster Irish are the most prevalent, popping up most prominently in the Irish speaking areas of those regions.

You will hear Irish people talking about Gaelic. That refers to one of our national sport - Gaelic Football! Gaelic - as a language - usually refers to Scots Gaelic, a similar but different language.

We Do Love A Drop of The Good Stuff

Ireland is famous for a certain drink... but we honestly don't get enough credit for our national love of tea. Drinking over two kilos of tea per person per year, Ireland is second only to Turkey in cups of tea drank per capita in the world.

Red Headed Woman

The Irish are famous for our red hair. This is a trope for a reason - we have the highest concentration of redheads per capita in the world, with about 10% of the population having red hair. That compares to about 2% globally. Red hair doesn't make you an automatic hot-head, and it doesn't make you a witch (sadly), but redheads have been noted to require more anesthetic, and have a higher pain threshold than the base population.

Island vs Republic

The island of Ireland, tiny as we may be, is divided into two countries. Northern Ireland, comprising of six counties in - you guessed it - the north of the island. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, and they use the British Pound as currency, and use imperial measurements like miles and feet.

The rest of the island - known as the Republic of Ireland - is an independent state and a member of the European Union. We use the euro as currency, and while older generations would have used the imperial system, we have adopted the metric system as our standard. We have a President as our head of state, and a Prime Minister known as a Taoiseach [Tea - shock].

Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are recognized as separate nations for the most part in sport. An exception to this rule is in rugby, where players from the north and south play on the same team. If you see an Irish rugby match, it's why "Ireland's Call" plays instead of the Republic's national anthem - Amhrán na bhFiann. If you're lucky enough to see a home game, however, you will get both anthems!

and yes I said yes I will Yes

Ireland was the first country to legalize same sex marriage on a national level, by popular vote, back in 2015. It was a momentous occasion... that, thanks to a translation error, also accidentally resulted in temporarily outlawing heterosexual marriage.

Craic is Ninety

Irish slang is in a league of it's own. To give you a quick run down of the essentials:

Craic [crack] - Fun, good times, a state of being in Irish society. If someone refers to you as 'good craic', they like having you around. If someone refers to another as 'minus craic', they're considered uptight and/or a boring person. "What's the craic?" can be translated as 'how's it going?', and doing something 'for the craic', means you're doing it just for kicks.

Class - Great, awesome.

Savage - Another term for great, awesome, or generally amazing.

Yoke - A thing. You know, a whatchamacallit.

Fierce - Very. This usually results in phrases like 'It's fierce mild out today'.

Culchie [Cull-Chi] - Someone from the countryside, or alternatively, someone who isn't from Dublin. May or may not have footed turf, or regularly attended the annual Ploughing Championships.

Eejit - An idiot or a fool, but it's usually used in an affectionate context.

Gobshite - Another term for an idiot, usually used less affectionately.

Yank - Term usually used to refer to an American, from the north or south of the USA.

I will, yeah - I most certainly will not.

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Irish folk of Iwaku, did I leave anything out? Or have you got more questions? Planning a trip in the post-pandemic world? How are you celebrating this year?

 

[Diana]

Today I learned present day Ireland is two countries, and I had no idea! O:

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Where do Leprechauns fall into the Saint Patrick's Day lore or are they unimportant?

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Where do Leprechauns fall into the Saint Patrick's Day lore or are they unimportant?

Leprechauns are more related to Irish folklore than anything else. They're a more modern concept (earliest stories about them are medieval), so they don't have much to do with earlier Irish Mythology. As far as I'm aware, there's no stories linking Saint Patrick to leprechauns (he seems to predate them, actually).

 

[Absinthe]

Today I learned present day Ireland is two countries, and I had no idea! O:

The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic in the aftermath of Brexit has been... interesting to say the least. We still have an open border however, so you can visit the Game of Thrones locations and the Guinness Storehouse in one trip if you're so inclined.

Where do Leprechauns fall into the Saint Patrick's Day lore or are they unimportant?

Leprechauns are more related to Irish folklore than anything else. They're a more modern concept (earliest stories about them are medieval), so they don't have much to do with earlier Irish Mythology. As far as I'm aware, there's no stories linking Saint Patrick to leprechauns (he seems to predate them, actually).

Yup, again, they're more of a generally Irish thing. St. Patrick banished the snakes, might have created werewolves, fought the mother of all demons and broken a curse on the children of a sea god, but he never had any run ins with leprechauns, banshees or pookas... That we know of at least.

 

[LuckycoolHawk9]

Also, following up question since I want to know if it is true. Are the snakes he drove out symbolic of the Pagan religion or is that one of those things the internet decided?

 

[Hecatoncheires]

Are the snakes he drove out symbolic of the Pagan religion or is that one of those things the internet decided?

This is personal interpretation here, and my knowledge is more to do with Scottish folklore than Irish, but from where I'm standing that sounds like something the internet decided.

When it comess to Paganism, early and Medieval (hell, even Renaissance) Christians don't really do symbolism. You use symbolism when you want to dress something up, maybe obscure something that others might not approve of. Meanwhile if Saint Patrick had really driven paganism off the face of Ireland, that would be seen as an inherently worthwhile and noble act worthy of praise in it's own right. I doubt they'd dress it up as "driving out snakes". They'd more likely be "ye dude he killed and converted a shitload of Pagans and it was the most awesome and godly thing ever, sweardown". Meanwhile you have other stories about Patrick where he does encounter actual, bona-fide Pagans, which suggests that the whole snake thing is an entirely seperate parable/story about him.

Honestly, Christian sources are more likely to go out of their way to interpret things as Paganism/Heresy, as opposed to the other way round. When you look at events like the Scottish Witch Hunts, you see accused witches telling stories that are drawing from common folklore elements ("Queen of Elphame", green men, etc.) and their captors deliberately interpreting these stories in a demonic/heretical light.