Happy St. Patrick's Day to Ye!

If ye be wantin' to know a wee bit about St. Patty's Day, then ye should be readin' this!
St. Patrick's day is a holiday that honors Ireland's patron saint.  Patrick was born in England in the late 300's.  At 16 years of age, he was carried off by Irish Marauders and passed off his captivity as a herdsman near the mountain Slemish in the county Antrim (as tradition has it) or in county Connacht.  The young herdsman saw visions in which he was urged to escape, and after six years of slavery he did so.  After he had escaped Ireland, he studied in Europe for several years and returned to Ireland as a bishop.
 
 












Patrick spent the rest of his life converting the tribes of Ireland to Christianity by combining their customs with new spiritual meanings.  His reported use of the shamrock as an illustration of the Trinity led to its being regarded as the Irish national symbol.  A strange chant of his, called the Lorica, is preserved in the Liber Hymnorum (Book of Hymns), and what seems to have been a handbell he used during Mass is shown in the National Museum, Dublin.  The traditional feast day for Patrick is March 17.  He was noted mostly, though, for his dedication to the teaching of reading and writing to all those who were willing to learn.  There are many tales associated with St. Patrick; however, his legacy is one of literacy.
 
 

Green is the color which is connected with St. Patrick's Day as it is the color of Ireland.  Ireland is also known as the Emerald Isle because it is covered in lush vegetation and a type of clover called Shamrock.  It is also deemed to symbolize luck.
 
 



"We wuv gettin' a bit o' e-mail !!!"
- - - - " 'Tis not malarkey!  They do!! "
My little Pekingese, Sweetcakes, is at Rainbow Bridge now. :* (
 
 
 
 


May the luck o' the Irish be with ye!
 
 
 

About the background - I made the background on this page with a real four-leaf clover.  Believe it or not, the clover is about eighty (80) years old or more!  My mother (who passed away at 94 years old) had a collection of four-leaf clovers which she gave to me.  They were, without a doubt, very fragile.  I decided in order to keep them for perhaps another 80 years that I would laminate them.  After doing so, I scanned the clover and then added a little bit of green color to it because age had caused it to turn brown, and then proceeded to make the background.  By the way, the size of the clover you see on this page is the "actual" size of the original clover.  Yes, this was a BIG one!  The other clovers in her collection were normal size.  NOTE: I ask you to please NOT copy or use this background.  It is my original work and is copyrighted.  Since this is such a special background due to the clover's history, I prefer not to share this one.  I hope you will understand.
 
 

This page is dedicated to the memory of my paternal Irish
grandmother, Minnie Lingo, who died before I was born.
 
 



 


 
 

 Some graphics by:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

'Tis not blarney - get a free homepage from GeoCities !
 
 


 
 
 

"Joanne's Woof-muffins" © 1998 - 2007 by Joanne M. Porter
TianshingI@AOL.com
All of the graphics seen here are being used with permission.




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