The Luck of the Irish. . .

Hi my friends.  I thought before I hit the road on a quilting get away with a few of my gal pals I’d leave you with a little something to think about.  “Food for thought’ you might say.

Now that it’s officially March our thoughts turn to St. Patty’s Day and the common phrase of “The Luck of the Irish”.

Although I no longer decorate for the day of wearing green I’ll be sharing a few of my greens with you.

                                                 (a touch of green in my entry cabinet.)

I googled the term ‘Luck of the Irish’ and (much to my own surprise), this is what I found out:

Have you ever wished someone “the Luck of the Irish”?  Did you know that if we do, we are actually wishing them bad luck?  Must admit, I am guilty of this one myself.

The Irish have been, and are a spectacularly unlucky race.

Yup, that’s right!  How long have we misunderstood this saying?  Any reading of Irish history as far back as the old country informs us that the Irish were not considered to be lucky.

For a few decades folks only ate potatoes. . .that is, if potatoes could grow in their fields.

                                 ((My small collection of green depression glass)

And what about that ‘pot of gold’?  Some trace the origin of that phrase to the US where, during the exploration for gold in the West, there were a high number of Irish people who got lucky and found their ‘pot of gold’ in the gold fields of California.

    (Green moss balls sit atop my green houndstooth sofa table)

Luck of the Irish does owe it’s origin to the U.S.A.  When they arrived they were very disliked, treated badly, despised and hated.  When the Irish had any kind of success most Americans at the time didn’t think the Irish were capable of such successes, so they called it luck.  Hence the term “Luck of the Irish”.

(green orb and candles.  Notice one candle is smaller?  I have another large one but can’t find where I’ve put it.)

I must say that when we were in Spain we walked along side a group of Irish during the Camino De Santiago.  I found them to be some of the nicest and fun loving people we met along the way.

Ireland is a beautiful country and I hope to visit there someday.

Must say, that I have no Irish blood in me, but if I did; I would be proud!

It’s nice to know that things have changed and the Irish are not treated badly in America today.

So, I’m saying it’s all about ‘Attitude” and I have a positive attitude that the ‘luck of the Irish’ is changing.

I’m hoping that all of them find their ‘pot of gold’

hugs,

Jann