Happy St. Patrick’s Day! (or Paddy’s Day, but as has been made blatantly clear around Facebook this year, don’t you dare call it “Patty’s” day!) Last year, I shared my experience of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland and how I want to use St. Patrick’s Day as a way to teach my children about Ireland and our time spent there, not the Americanized version of four leaf clovers, leprechauns, all things green, drinking and corned beef and cabbage (I never ONCE saw corned beef and cabbage on a menu in 2 ½ years living in Ireland!)
These are the things I DO want my children to know and celebrate about Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day each year:
- Ireland is a very special place and we were very lucky to be able to live there, explore and learn about their history and culture.
- We have many great friends there (or that we met there) that will always be special in our hearts despite the distance between us.
- Not all Irish people are red-headed Catholics (in fact we know virtually none)
- Leprechauns are a part of Irish Faerie legend which dates back centuries and was part of the spiritual belief system of the Ancient Irish.
- Before St. Patrick helped spread Catholicism around Ireland, Ireland was inhabited the by the Celts, who provided much of the cultural landscape, including the Irish language which is still prominent today.
- Dublin was founded by the Vikings (an important fact to our specific family since hubby’s family is largely Scandinavian!)
- Ireland has a vast amount of history which is present everywhere and is greatly valued and protected.
- Ireland enjoys different sports than we do here, like Rugby, Gaelic Football and Hurling.
- Many of our favorite foods were ones we discovered in Ireland like Tikka Masala, Duck and their favorite Fish Soup I make.
- Ireland is a mostly cold and rainy place and we should feel lucky to have so much sunshine now.
- And just because many of our ancestors came from Ireland hundreds of years ago, it doesn’t make us Irish.
