Post Scripts: Kissing the Blarney Stone

Well here it is St. Patrick’s Day and my thoughts once again turn to my old Irish friend, Roland Merrigan. I’m sure I’ve told you about him a lot of times. He was really a special man, but I won’t bore you with details about him again this year. I do remember he always requested the McDonald Tea Room to have corned beef and cabbage on this day.

We’re looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day as our daughter, Kathy Ann, has promised to cook corned beef and cabbage and we are invited for dinner. She retired from her job as college media advisor at the University of Texas last November and has more time at home now, but she still leads a very busy life. I won’t go into detail of all she does as I might leave something out.

I’ll never forget the trip we made to Ireland in 1971. I had a green suit and Kathy also had a green suit. One couple on our trip had the name of Green and every day they were dressed entirely in green. I’m sure I wrote articles about that trip as I did most trips in those years when we were lucky enough to travel to a number of foreign lands, but all I seem to have is a few pictures. I did find a picture of us riding in a pony cart on a rainy day and as I remember, it rained nearly every day. There is a great one where Kathy is kissing the Blarney Stone. I’m sure there was one of me, too, but maybe I didn’t like the pose and threw it away.

Anyhow you all know the story of St. Patrick’s Day, but in case you’ve forgotten, here’s a little review. Each country has its own important days of observance. There’s Boxing in Australia, Chinese New Year in China, Cinco de Mayo in Mexico, May Day in Great Britain, Victory Day in Canada and Bastile Day in France. Thanks to television, radios and computers, we are more in touch with other nations and their celebrations than we’ve ever been. However none of these holidays is celebrated or recognized here in the United States to the magnitude that the Irish holiday, St. Patrick’s Day, is.

St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in the United States in 1737 in Boston. Although it began as a religious holiday, St. Patrick’s Day has become more secular in nature and is a day for parades, parties, luck and wearing of the green.

This day honors Saint Patrick, the missionary credited with converting the Irish from Paganism to Christianity in the A.D. 400’s. His death was March 17, A.D. 461 in Scotland. He was born in Scotland around 373 A.D. He grew up in a wealthy family but at age 16, was kidnaped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. He worked as a shepherd for awhile and began to have religions affirmations. He escaped slavery and became a Catholic priest and later a bishop. He spent 30 years traveling around Ireland spreading Christianity. He used the shamrock, three leafed clover, as a metaphor to explain the Christian Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost).

Another Irish icon is the Blarney Stone which is set in a wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the village of Blarney. Kissing the Blarney Stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney). Each year thousands of visitors kiss the stone as we did, hoping to bring luck and love into their lives. The origin isn’t clear but one legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone gave the king that ability to speak sweetly and convincingly. The stone is wedged between the main castle wall and the parapet. Kissers have to lie on their back and bend backward and downward holding on to bars for support to reach it. The picture we have of Kathy in this position shows it very well.