THE BLOG: NO IRISH NEED APPLY

What up?
More St. Patrick's Day trivia.
Lol! Here, I was rabbiting on about the wearing of the green on March 17 and I FORGOT to learn ya as to why green is associated with Ireland and St. Patrick! OH MY GAW!
St. Patrick was a missionary and was to teach the pagans in Ireland about the teachings of Christianity. He used the shamrock which usually is GREEN and held it aloft to the sky. He, then taught that each leaf represented one of the Trinity. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. The sun was seen as a circle around the middle of the shamrock and thus, it's now a familiar symbol as a Celtic Cross. The circle in the Celtic Cross represents the sun.

Btw, little known fact, did you know most folks in Ireland, have fair skin, light coloured hair and eyes due to the Norse invading Ireland wayyyyyyy back in the day.In fact, a lot of Irish metal work from the Iron Age and Bronze Age show typical Norse patterns, ie, serpents. Later, the Normans, Gauls, Spaniards and the English invaded the Emerald Isle. Ok, then why do some Irish have brown hair and eyes? That's the Spanish influence and it'scommonly known as the Black Irish.
Soz, during the 1840's, the Great Potato Famine struck Ireland! The Irish population was reduced drastically from either emigration to America and those who chose to stay behind survived or perished! My family ancestors decided to emigrate to Canada via the coffin ships. There were three routes in which many coffin ships sailed. The St Lawrence Seaway which goes through Canada to The Great Lakes, to New York and to the South. Why were the ships named the coffin ships? The answer is rather simple. Many people died enroute and were thrown overboard during the voyages. More people had perished than arrived alive and the ships were nicknamed coffin ships! Of course, the ships were packed to the hilt with emigrants and there wasn't clean water, enough food,proper sanitation, well, you get my drift.
Upon arriving to America, the Irish spoke no English, were beyond dirt poor and barefoot! They were considered to be barbaric and savage! Their language was guttural and unfortunately, many Irish fell prey to the drink! Thus, the general consensus became of the public became that the Irish were drunkard, savage, barbarians who ate their young! All of this because of their appearance and language! Many shop owners would hang signs in store front windows that simply read : "No Irish Need Apply".


Did you know why the Claddagh ring has a heart, encircled by hands and wears a crown? The heart represents love, the hands: friendship and the crown is for loyalty. Many people of Irish descent own and wear a Claddagh. The rings, traditionally, are made in Claddagh, hence the name and usually are worn on the third finger if the right hand. If, the heart faces away from the wearer, it means they are single and looking for love. The heart facing the wearer, signifies that they are taken. Many Claddagh rings are given as friendship rings or as an engagement ring. The engagement rings are more fancier than the friendship rings. Made in white or yellow gold set with a diamond or an emerald. The friendship rings tend to be sterling silver. I have two Claddagh rings which are sterling silver. One is with green agate and the other is Connemara marble. Nowadays, most who wear one, do so out of fun in being connected to their Irish heritage!

I have flown over Ireland many times and She truly is the Emerald Isle! Forty shades of green! "THEY"ain't kidding about that! Ireland is just that, forty shades of green! It's quite apparent from a bird's eye view! Lol!

Yeah! I'm proud to be Irish!
Slainte!