ST PATRICK'S DAY - MARCH 17th

Bejabers, 'tis the feast day of the patron saint of my native land.  I therefore include some links of Irish interest.

St Patrick, by the way, lived in the 5th Century. He wrote an account of his life in Latin and also a grumpy letter berating a slave raider called Coroticus.  He himself was probably an Ancient Briton - the Ancient Britons are the ancestors of the modern Welsh, Cornish and Bretons.

Apart from what we know of his life, many legends have accrued to him. 

Legends about St Patrick: a collection

now read on.....

https://ireland-calling.com/st-patrick-myths-and-legends/

Irish Bigfoot: Where has Bigfoot been reported in Ireland?

now read on.....

Fairy types in Ireland.

now read on.....


A few tips when dealing with the Irish:

Ireland is an independent county.  It is not part of Britain and its inhabitants should not be referred to as British; nor should you refer to the archipelago it occupies as the British Isles.

Northern Ireland - one sixth of the island - is still ruled by the British.

The Irish language was the main language until the mid-19th Century and this impinges much on the folklore of the country.  Never allude to the Irish language as Erse, which is regarded as insulting and properly should be applied to Scottish Gaelic, a daughter language of Irish.

The Republic of Ireland, comprising the remaining five sixths of the island, should be referred to as simply Ireland, unless you are speaking in Irish, where it is called Éire

The currency of Ireland is the euro.

Ireland was formerly only an entirely agricultural country, but now has some surprising industries, for example, it is the largest producer of softwear in Europe, it produces nearly all the Botox in the world and it is the biggest exporter of bananas in Europe.

It is the least polluted country in Europe, perhaps because we were spared the Industrial Revolution.