Cheesy Jokes and Serious Thoughts for St. Patrick's Day

 

We're all Irish on St. Patrick's Day--and since the Irish diaspora was over  600 years long, and the Irish lived long and prospered wherever there was a Catholic church worldwide--it's probably true we're all Irish. Geneticists say that Genghis Khan was the foremost contributor to Y chromosomes worldwide, followed by O' Neill of the Nine Hostages (Irish).
My grandmother was completely Irish, her mother immigrating from the Old Sod, so I have been successfully indoctrinated about the Isle of Saints and Scholars. Trust me, no demeaning stereotypical jokes about the Irish in my growing up. Sister Francis Eileen, O.P., was the principal of St. Louis Bertrand's School in Oakland, California, and her lilting Irish brogue came over the P.A. system every morning. She was cool, all the nuns I had were cool; I never had a negative experience in parochial school. Many were from Ireland, many were Irish Americans like my sainted grandmother. And I was in that school both when John F. Kennedy ran for president, was elected, and was assassinated. Powerful stuff.

I am so thankful I didn't have to unlearn prejudice and bias--my Oakland elementary school was perfect. The only almost-bias I had to unlearn was that not everyone was from my church.

http://www.tolerance.org/hiddenbias

I was stunned when I heard my first negative joke about the Irish. Didn't they realize we saved western civilization?
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/cahill/irish.html 

The Isle of Saints and Scholars-to be sure

And I didn't even say, "Pog Mo Thoin." Which shows a lot of maturity and restraint.

Ethnic jokes and teasing are a form of bullying--so kids and adults really need to knock it off. Are we that desperate to feel superior? The quiet kid in the back of the room won't be able to stand up for herself in the midst of  biased-based laughter. Bullying includes those jokes about physical appearance, churches, where you're from, and let's throw in sports teams since kids are so sensitive about them. Kids should have the right to be in school without bullying or humiliation of any type. Grown-ups, too.

 So, anyway, here are the jokes. (That's pretty Irish of me:  stick up for the underdog and then tell jokes.) 

Green, and Garfield provides the orange

How did the leprechaun get to the moon?

In a shamrocket.

Why is Ireland like a bottle of wine?

Because it has a Cork in it.

What would you get if you crossed a leprechaun with a Texan?

A pot of chili at the end of the rainbow.

No relation to Bono. Or the Edge.

What kind of music does a leprechaun band play?
                                      Shamrock and roll.


What do you call a leprechaun's vacation home in Fort Lauderdale?

A lepre-condo.

 Love Irish music. O'Sullivan's March, The Chieftans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpkrr0-qut4
My gggrandmother (later immigrated to Kansas)  was a Sullivan leaving from Cork in 1844, and who survived a coffin ship to Grosse Isle Quebec.

Your Irish Eyes Be Smiling

 

The Irish eyes of my grandmother, Mary Mangan, 1919, Denver, Colorado.
Born March 8, 1900.

The Irish Tenors (John McDermott, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan) -

 When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHSV8igDiEo

There's a tear in your eye

And I'm wondering why

For it never should be there at all

With such pow'r in your smile

Sure a stone you'd beguile

So there's never a teardrop should fall

When your sweet lilting laughter's

Like some fairy song

And your eyes twinkle bright as can be

You should laugh all the while

And all other times smile

And now, smile a smile for me

When Irish eyes are smiling

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing

When Irish hearts are happy

All the world seems bright and gay

And when Irish eyes are smiling

Sure, they steal your heart away

For your smile is a part

Of the love in your heart

And it makes even sunshine more bright

Like the linnet's sweet song

Crooning all the day long

Comes your laughter and light

For the springtime of life

Is the sweetest of all

There is ne'er a real care or regret

And while springtime is ours

Throughout all of youth's hours

Let us smile each chance we get

When Irish eyes are smiling

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring

In the lilt of Irish laughter

You can hear the angels sing

When Irish hearts are happy

All the world seems bright and gay

And when Irish eyes are smiling

Sure, they steal your heart away.

Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5

I also like the one that says, 'May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.'

Cousins?

That's some pot of gold.

Here's some fun with Irish folklore, film, mirth, music and lively dance.

'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' includes a rundown of many well-known Irish superstitions from leprechauns to banshees, as well as a very young Sean Connery.

'The Secret of Roan Inish' is another film that also reveal lovely Irish landscapes as well as the legend of the silkies.

Numerous fantasy and faerie stories. These are old timey ones by 
W.B. Yeats. Read them first yourself before reading them aloud to children; some are rather creepy.

Oh no, not a changling!

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/  

Here's more on the gift of gab (remember our Irish American presidents?

Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan

Reagan and Kennedy? They inherited the joke telling and the charm.)

Irish Quotations, Irish Blessings, Irish Proverbs and Irish Toasts

http://tacomaweekly.tripod.com/Irish-Quotations.html 

Here is live Irish music from a pub in County Clare--great fun even if you're just drinking O'Douhl's.

Traditional Irish Music - Brogan's Bar - Ennis, Ireland

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z_TheGgFWI&list=HL1394432606

Irish dance has worldwide participants and audiences.

Irish dance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance 

I don't know if this happens every day at the Dublin Airport, but how cool if it did. 

TAKE THE FLOOR Flashmob Dublin Airport 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff_uLoEBEo 

Love the sentiment.

 

Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5

I also like the one that says, 'May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.'

Cousins?

That's some pot of gold.

Here's some fun with Irish folklore, film, mirth, music and lively dance.

'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' includes a rundown of many well-known Irish superstitions from leprechauns to banshees, as well as a very young Sean Connery.

'The Secret of Roan Inish' is another film that also reveal lovely Irish landscapes as well as the legend of the silkies.

Numerous fantasy and faerie stories. These are old timey ones by 
W.B. Yeats. Read them first yourself before reading them aloud to children; some are rather creepy. 

Oh no, not a changling!

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/  

Here's more on the gift of gab (remember our Irish American presidents?

Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan

Reagan and Kennedy? They inherited the joke telling and the charm.)

Irish Quotations, Irish Blessings, Irish Proverbs and Irish Toasts

http://tacomaweekly.tripod.com/Irish-Quotations.html 

Here is live Irish music from a pub in County Clare--great fun even if you're just drinking O'Douhl's.

Traditional Irish Music - Brogan's Bar - Ennis, Ireland

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z_TheGgFWI&list=HL1394432606

Irish dance has worldwide participants and audiences.

Irish dance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance 

I don't know if this happens every day at the Dublin Airport, but how cool if it did. 

TAKE THE FLOOR Flashmob Dublin Airport 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff_uLoEBEo 

Love the sentiment.

 

Irish Prayers and Blessings

I understand this sentiment, but I wouldn't ever pray it.

This is my favorite!

Celtic Circle of Joy--Living Your Dream

The Irish culture embraces delight, melancholy, whimsy, rage--the full human experience.

 Here is a lovely piece of music inspired by Irish heritage and instruments. As I listen, I can see the spirits dance in the faery rings of the forest.

Lisa Lynne - Circle of Joy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sPqL60az8 

Lisa Lynne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Lynne

Lisa Lynne Wesbsite

https://lisalynne.com/

Two Irish Mums Who Won the Nobel Peace Prize

The Peace People Rally, Ireland, Betty Williams and  Maireed Corrigan 

'The Troubles' in Ireland are well know, conflict between two demographics (Catholic and Protestant) that share the same religous root: Christianity. Its been going on since Cromwell. But a lesser known fact is that two Irish mums won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for beginning a Peace Movement in Northern Ireland to combat the carnage.

To quote the Nobel Committee in 1976: We admire Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan for tackling so fearlessly the perilous task of leading the way into no-man's land, in the cause of peace and reconciliation.

Mairead (Corrigan) Maguire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mairead_Maguire

'Gandhi taught that nonviolence does not mean passivity. No. It is the most daring, creative, and courageous way of living, and it is the only hope for our world. Nonviolence is an active way of life which always rejects violence and killing, and instead applies the force of love and truth as a means to transform conflict and the root causes of conflict. Nonviolence demands creativity. It pursues dialogue, seeks reconciliation, listens to the truth in our opponents, rejects militarism, and allows God's spirit to transform us socially and politically. '

 Maireed Corrigan Maquire 

Betty Williams 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Williams_%28Nobel_laureate%29 

"That first week will always be remembered of course for something else besides the birth of the Peace People. For those most closely involved, the most powerful memory of that week was the death of a young republican and the deaths of three children struck by the dead man's car. A deep sense of frustration at the mindless stupidity of the continuing violence was already evident before the tragic events of that sunny afternoon of August 10, 1976. But the deaths of those four young people in one terrible moment of violence caused that frustration to explode, and create the possibility of a real peace movement...As far as we are concerned, every single death in the last eight years, and every death in every war that was ever fought represents life needlessly wasted, a mother's labour spurned."

Betty Williams

Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5

I also like the one that says, 'May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.'

Cousins?

That's some pot of gold.

Here's some fun with Irish folklore, film, mirth, music and lively dance.

'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' includes a rundown of many well-known Irish superstitions from leprechauns to banshees, as well as a very young Sean Connery.

'The Secret of Roan Inish' is another film that also reveal lovely Irish landscapes as well as the legend of the silkies.

Numerous fantasy and faerie stories. These are old timey ones by 
W.B. Yeats. Read them first yourself before reading them aloud to children; some are rather creepy. 

Oh no, not a changling!

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/  

Here's more on the gift of gab (remember our Irish American presidents?

Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan

Reagan and Kennedy? They inherited the joke telling and the charm.)

Irish Quotations, Irish Blessings, Irish Proverbs and Irish Toasts

http://tacomaweekly.tripod.com/Irish-Quotations.html 

Here is live Irish music from a pub in County Clare--great fun even if you're just drinking O'Douhl's.

Traditional Irish Music - Brogan's Bar - Ennis, Ireland

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z_TheGgFWI&list=HL1394432606

Irish dance has worldwide participants and audiences.

Irish dance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance 

I don't know if this happens every day at the Dublin Airport, but how cool if it did. 

TAKE THE FLOOR Flashmob Dublin Airport 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff_uLoEBEo 

Love the sentiment.

 

Teachable Moment: Brian Boru in the Irish (Brian Bóramha in Gaeilge)

Brian Boru united Ireland. Quite a rare feat! Around a thousand years ago, he drove out the Vikings. The language of this song is the ancient Irish tongue still spoken and learned in Irish schools: Gaelic. The Irish also created their own written language about the third century, which is an unusual accomplishment in the history of the world. The British worked overtime to forbid the speaking of Irish. It obviously didn't work.

 The Irish Language Today

 http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/secondary-students/irish/an-cultur-gaelach/translation-irish-languag/the-irish-language-today/

Alan Stivel and his harp.

This music is from Alan Stivel, who is a Breton from France.

Alan Stivell - Brian Boru 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SI0-q4K39A

Here is the translation, which is from the Irish as well as Breton.

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/brian-boru-brian-boru.html

The following information about the six Celtic nations is from Wikipedia 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_nations: 
The six territories recognized as Celtic nations are Brittany (Breizh), Cornwall (Kernow), Ireland (Éire), the Isle of Man (Mannin), Scotland (Alba), and Wales (Cymru). Each of these regions has a Celtic language that is either still spoken or was spoken into modern times. In addition, areas of north-western Spain and Portugal, particularly Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias and Minho, Douro, Tras-os-Montes (Northern Portugal) are oftentimes identified as Celtic, due to the unique culture of the region. Unlike the others, however, no Celtic language has been spoken there in modern times. Before the expansions of the Roman Republic and Germanic tribes, a significant part of Europe was Celtic.

Here is a comparison of English and Irish, using the Lord's Prayer. Irish is how St. Patrick would have spoken it (if he wasn't using Latin.)

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Ár nAthair atá ar neamh, hallowed a bheith thy ainm. Dtaga do ríocht, beidh agad a dhéanamh ar an talamh mar a dhéantar ar neamh, tabhair dúinn inniu ár n-arán laethúil, agus maith dúinn ár bhfiacha, mar a mhaithimidne siúd a bhféichiúna dúinn. Ná lig sinn i gcathú, ach saor sinn ó olc. Amen.

Here is the English ranslation of Alan Stivel's song:

Brian Boru

Brian Boru will die for the life of Ireland

Peace in the province of Ulster and in Dublin

Family unity, tribal unity

Unity in the world of the Celts

From so much battle to so much peace

From a world of divine blessings, love

From so much battle to so much peace

From a world of divine blessings, love

They said that this was a (funeral) procession

That people would be solemn

But we were not sorrowful

Brian Boru will die for the life of Ireland

Peace in the province of Ulster and in Dublin

Family unity, tribal unity

Unity in the world of the Celts

Brian Boru will die for the life of Ireland

Peace in the province of Ulster and in Dublin

Family unity, tribal unity

Unity in the world of the Celts

From so much battle to so much peace

From a world of divine blessings, love

From so much battle to so much peace

From a world of divine blessings, love

We are like the weather

Especially the sun

And we chose a soft place by the river

Celtic Circle of Joy--Living Your Dream

The Irish culture embraces delight, melancholy, whimsy, rage--the full human experience.

 Here is a lovely piece of music inspired by Irish heritage and instruments. As I listen, I can see the spirits dance in the faery rings of the forest.

Lisa Lynne - Circle of Joy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sPqL60az8 

Lisa Lynne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Lynne

Lisa Lynne Wesbsite

https://lisalynne.com/

Festival of Irish Arts and Music Day 5

I also like the one that says, 'May you be in Heaven a half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.'

Cousins?

That's some pot of gold.

Here's some fun with Irish folklore, film, mirth, music and lively dance.

'Darby O'Gill and the Little People' includes a rundown of many well-known Irish superstitions from leprechauns to banshees, as well as a very young Sean Connery.

'The Secret of Roan Inish' is another film that also reveal lovely Irish landscapes as well as the legend of the silkies.

Numerous fantasy and faerie stories. These are old timey ones by 
W.B. Yeats. Read them first yourself before reading them aloud to children; some are rather creepy. 

Oh no, not a changling!

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/fip/  

Here's more on the gift of gab (remember our Irish American presidents?

Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan

Reagan and Kennedy? They inherited the joke telling and the charm.)

Irish Quotations, Irish Blessings, Irish Proverbs and Irish Toasts

http://tacomaweekly.tripod.com/Irish-Quotations.html 

Here is live Irish music from a pub in County Clare--great fun even if you're just drinking O'Douhl's.

Traditional Irish Music - Brogan's Bar - Ennis, Ireland

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z_TheGgFWI&list=HL1394432606

Irish dance has worldwide participants and audiences.

Irish dance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance 

I don't know if this happens every day at the Dublin Airport, but how cool if it did. 

TAKE THE FLOOR Flashmob Dublin Airport 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ff_uLoEBEo 

Love the sentiment.