How Green Are YOU?

How Irish are ya? With a last name like Kelly I should know a little more about the Irish than I do.

            Sadly about the only thing I know a few things about the Irish. First I guess we have to distinguish which Irish we are talking about.

            There are those who love the college Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish and then there are those who are or whose descendants are from Ireland and consider themselves to be Irish, like I consider myself to be American.

            University of Notre Dame is close to South Bend, Indiana which is really the northern most part of Indiana. The Irish love green, are Catholic, and love their sports. They love their leprachauns, four-leaf clovers and other stereotypical “Irish” things.

            As for the other Irish people there have been many that are famous throughout history according to Wikipedia, “There have been many notable Irish people throughout history. The 6th century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the "fathers of Europe",followed by Kilian of Würzburg and Vergilius of Salzburg. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the "father of chemistry". Famous Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Ernest Shackleton, and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides; while an Irishman was also the first European to set foot on American soil in Columbus' expedition of 1492.

                  Just for to clarify things for all you college basketball fans who have endured this Irish article to this point the Tom Crean mentioned above is not the Tom Crean who is the head coach at University of Indiana, formerly the coach at Marquette. This Tom Crean was a noted explorer in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s who explored Antartica.

                  So maybe some of you are Irish fan’s who are Irish. I can’t imagine how happy you are today? It must be like Christmas for me, minus all the red, a lot greener. Maybe it’s like Earth Day to a conservationist, only greener. Maybe, okay I’ll stop.

                  Well, if you gotten this far, Happy St. Patrick’s Day. And if your not like me and don’t have your camoflagued boots already on and ready for the opening day of Spring Gobbler season, then maybe some wise advertiser in this paper bought green ink and used it in an add next to my article. This will save you from getting pinched if you just tear it out and pin it to your shirt, unless you live in a family that doesn’t count add-ons in the you must wear green game.

                  So what will you do today? How Irish will you be? Maybe you will be attending mass or service, attending parades, attending céilithe, wearing shamrocks, wearing green, drinking Irish beer, drinking Irish whiskey or if you happen to be in Chicago you might get to participate in dying a river, The Chicago River is dyed green each year for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. Originally Saint Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig) is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It is named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland. It originated as a Catholic holiday and became an official feast day in the early 17th century. It has gradually become more of a secular celebration of Irish culture. According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people. (Wikipedia)

                  Well, I’d say may the Luck of the Irish be with ya today, but I’m Presbyterian.

So I’ll just say I hope you don’t get pinched and you get to enjoy your day without being green with envy.