Shamrocks and red hair, pots of gold and rainbows...on Thursday night it felt as if someone had dropped an elephant-sized can of Irish spirit on campus. St Patrick's day: the day that bartenders love most.
Allow me to slip into lecturer-mode for a moment and share a little detail about who St Patrick was and why we celebrate this day. According to that wonderful website known as Wikipedia, St Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland and - to the best of my knowledge - a Roman Catholic. There are many legends around St Patrick, such as the legend of him chasing snakes out of Ireland or the way in which he used a shamrock (normal three-leafed clover) to help illustrate the concept of the Divine Trinity: God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. As I can't be bothered to type out endless pages about his life and teachings, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick#St._Patrick_banishes_snakes_from_Ireland if you'd like to learn more. Or use Google. It's a wonderful tool.
So why do we celebrate St Paddy's day with wild partying and drinking? No idea. One would assume it's because the Irish are infamous for their drinking skills, and St Paddy's day has become more a celebration of Irish culture than anything else (well, here in Gtown anyway). If the wisdom of Wikipedia is to be trusted - which it usually isn't - Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol were removed during St Paddy's day and hence the Irish would celebrate with gay abandon. If only I'd known that on the day! I've given up sweets for Lent...and if Lenten restrictions were lifted...dammit.
Naturally my friends and I all donned our greenest outfits, covered ourselves in neon green stickers and ribbons, and hit the streets with bottles of cane and Cream Soda in search of a party. Everywhere we looked we found students covered in green paint and stick-on shamrocks, loudly proclaiming how awesome the Irish were. Personally, I had no choice but to celebrate; I'm half-Irish (on my mother's side) and a full Irish citizen. According to my passport, anyway. On these grounds, I decided I was morally obligated to have a serious Irish mare. Which I did.
At least, I think I did. Some of the details are a bit hazy...
The next morning I wandered sleepily into my tutorial, clutching a can of Coke and trying to remind myself to stay awake. As soon as I sat down at the table, one of my fellow tut-people glanced over at me, at my Coke, then casually asked "Hangover?"
Was it that obvious?
And now, especially for your entertainment, I have gathered a selection of Irish quotes that I particularly enjoy. Hope you do too!
"There are two types of people in this world: the Irish, and those who wish they were."
"God invented beer to stop the Irish from taking over the world."
"Here's to our wives and girlfriends: may they never meet!" - Irish drinking toast.
"Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him." - Irish proverb
"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to Heaven. So, let's all get drunk and go to heaven."
"St. Patrick -- one of the few saints whose feast day presents the opportunity to get determinedly whacked and make a fool of oneself all under the guise of acting Irish."
"There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head.
If a man doesn't drink when he's living,
How in the hell can he drink when he's dead?"
Here's hoping you all had an epic St Paddy's day! Slainte! (Translation: cheers!)
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