Happy St. Paddy's Day!

sorta reminiscent of TV panels with at least one lefty or islamofascist.....
Who can out shout the other..........

I hoist my jamesons

Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington had only the kindest most respectful flattering things to say about the Irish man and Irish woman....there isn't a day goes by i don't feel blessed in being born a memeber of the race that was the yeast in the British pudding.

our behaviour may at times appear idiosyncratic but for the most part we mean well.....it is our cross to labour under the handicap of an extra irony gene...

so...today i will go forth and struggle in my own personal 'Dublin by Lamplight Laundry'...mine own 'Bog of Allen"...wear the greenest of greens to remember all the suffering endured for 800 years of oppression and all thems souls resting under a green quilt...unforgotten...... have one jar too many before my dinner...and then expatiate at borinly great length how the Irish in revenge took the English langwidge and mastered it in shape style and form...

Being of English descent, it would be rather hypocritical of me to don some green and pretend I'm Irish today. However, I am not above congratulating the Irish for giving the world Jameson, Bushmills, Guinness, and Baileys Irish Cream. Nor can we forget U2, Irish Rovers, Lucky Charms, Irish Spring, DeLorean or Shorts Brothers.

So here's to ya.

Will hoist a Murphy’s with my corned beef and cabbage tonight....here's to the potato famine that sent these strong backed, enduring freckled peoples to our shores.

They were the human engines that built Canada's primal infrastructure and public works. Canada's pioneer roads, bridges, canals and pier pilings are built on Paddy's strong back.

Long live Paddy! Down the family compact and landed gentry!

Being of Welsh descent, it's completely up my alley to admit to being something other than Welsh, so huzzah for the Irish for being a part of the great British Nation and giving me something interesting that I can claim to be by association.

Thank you for Stuart Townsend and Pierce Brosnan, please take back Colin Farrell.

Happy Feast of St. Patrick!

And now for something completely different:

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

-- Cecil F. Alexander (1889)

BTW: The above is called "St. Patrick's Breastplate," a translation of a Gaelic po­em called “St. Pat­rick’s Lor­i­ca.” (A “lorica” was a mys­tic­al gar­ment that was sup­posed to pro­tect the wear­er from dan­ger and ill­ness, and guar­an­tee ent­ry in­to Hea­ven.)

Ah, the mystical Irish. Here's to St. Paddy and everyone with the Celtic blood coursing through their veins!

Put me down for the the Garry Owen which got me out of trouble on a number of occasions.
George Best
and this
There was on Old Man of the Isles,
Whose face was pervaded with smiles;
He sung high dum diddle,
And played on the fiddle,
That amiable Man of the Isles.

Here's to William Butler Yeats who forced the English language to do his bidding and turned it into indescribable beauty.

Everybody is Irish today. I've got my green food coloring ready for the beer tonight.
Gus O'Schmidt
(gotta admit it has a certain ring to it!)

I'm still laughing at the clip. Have a great St. Patrick's Day all.

HaveaGreatDay.wmv
2607K Download

Pat Patrick

the Irish do have a way with words.

"Irish whisky is like having an angel pis s on yer tounge"

John McCormack - When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgQCPifM-p8

Sláinte

O Narcissist*: "I", "personally", "my", "we", "we".

I'r'IrIsh; but, not FIghtIn' IrIsh.
...-

"Obama praises Irish for resisting 'old partisan impulses'

"I, personally, take great interest on St. Patrick's Day because, as some of you know, my mother's family can be traced back to Ireland," the president said.

He even joked to Cowen: "We may be cousins. We haven't sorted that through yet.""
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2208442/posts

*"If you look at Obama’s language in books and speeches, there’s actually a great deal of “I” usage. And he’s prone to occasionally speaking in the third person. What I find more striking is that his “we” usage is often odd, as though everyone is an extension of him."
http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/the-narcissistic-qualities-of-barack-obama/

Did anyone else see the two hour documentary+ on History Channel last night that dealt with the Irish migration into Canada during the famine in 1847? With specific reference to their landing in Toronto in numbers greater than the population at the time?

What incredible risks these folks took, and what incredible suffering before, during and after their crossing the ocean!

And then to rebuild from start which included, as WLMR noted, building the country to which they migrated. If you didn't see it, it will probably come by again. Watch for it; it's worth it.

God bless the Irish!

Traditional Irish Blessing, to the tune of Down by the Sally Gardens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7O9OqBd2us

or at

http://www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en

St. Coca's Choir, from Kilcock, Co. Kildare, Ireland singing the Celtic (sometimes called Irish) Blessing. This is a traditional hymn based on the the ancient blessing bestowed upon friends

Celtic Blessing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrS3kYW6du4

Worth a listen, enjoy.

Cheers and Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief

1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group "True North"

Beautiful music Hans - here is Celtic Thunder with a tremendous tribute to the Emerald Isle:

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY1_qlTr-rM

I celebrate St Patrick's Day with my Celtic Ilk with pride for all they have been, all they are and all they shall be...always the Savior's of Civilization! I am a Scottish Celt with only two ancestors from Ireland. I celebrate all Celtic holidays from both sides of the Irish sea with the love of my people in my heart. We are lovers of Freedom and anyone who loves Freedom is, IMO, of Celtic ilk.

Obama uses 'we' as Queen Victoria did when talking to 'commoners', she used the third person to distant herself from the rubble. Poor old O would not have made the muster with that old gal. He is pretentious in the most obnoxious way ...reminds me of the Turdo fool from Canada! Come to think of it..Turdo insulted Queen Elizabeth II, O insulted PM Brown..go figure.

It is always a great day to be Irish/Scottish, IMO.