My Father, He Is Orange and My Mother, She Is Green

I decided to not wear green today because I am non-partisan. Please don't pinch me.

St. Patrick was real; the snakes were not. Irish Catholics celebrate the fact that St. Patrick rid the island of those venomous Pagans, those heathens who also gave the Catholics St. Brigit, the Celtic Triple Goddess from which we get the idea of the trinity, as represented by the shamrock.

A few years ago there was a lovely documentary on the telly called Irish in America: Long Journey Home. The soundtrack is just as lovely, but the song that haunts me most is "Skibbereen" sung by Sinead O'Connor. (Sinead O'Connor got a bad rap for the whole tearing up the picture of the Pope thing. She is actually quite a great singer. My favorite song of hers is "Daddy I'm Fine.")
The song "Skibbereen" tells one family's story about the flight from Ireland during the great famine:
Oh son I loved my native land with energy and pride
'Til a blight came over on my crops, my sheep and cattle died,
The rent and taxes were so high, I could not them redeem,
And that's the cruel reason why I left old Skibbereen.

The group Black 47 take their name from the darkest year of the famine - 1847.

Harsh but true: No Irish Need Apply

Recommended Irish Movies
(In some cases I am not differentiating between Irish-produced movies and American-produced movies set in Ireland.)
Some Mother's Son(T) - the story of Bobby Sands and fellow hunger strikers.
In the Name of the Father(T) - Intense and shocking. Daniel Day-Lewis is amazing.
Bloody Sunday(T) - in the style of a documentary, this movies reenacts the events surrounding January 30, 1972.
An Everlasting Piece(T)- Catholic and Protestant wig salesmen in 1980's Belfast
Liam - in the same vein as Angela's Ashes, but much better
Titanic Town(T) - I have only seen part of this movie, but Julie Walters is excellent as a mother determined to stop the violence from affecting her family.
War of the Buttons - I love this movie! The little boys are so cute!
The Snapper - My favorite!
The Commitments
The Boxer(T)
The General - starring Brendan Gleeson of The Snapper and Braveheart
Waking Ned Devine - I love this movie! The old men are so cute!
Dancing At Lughnasa - the movie (starring Meryl Streep, Rhys Ifans, and Catherine McCormack) is ok, but the play (written by Brian Friel) is much better. I saw a performance at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.

*Movies with a (T) are about or take place during The Troubles.

FYI, Lughnasa is the festival of the first harvest.

And to celebrate the Irish spirit on this gloriously sunny day, let's all cool down with a mudslide! Ben & Jerry's Dublin Mudslide that is.