Thursday, March 17, 2011

St. Patrick's Day

First off, my favorite version of Danny Boy...







I'm not sure I can say, "Happy St. Patrick's Day" because it is actually the commemoration of the death of St. Patrick. Around our house we sometimes just say, "Happy Patrick's Day!" for Patrick, my son, who is indeed named after the patron saint of Ireland. With a name like "Donnahoo" it seemed only fitting to name my first son with a traditional Irish name. Do we have any real Irish blood in our family? I'm not sure yet: the genealogical jury is still out on that one. My Dad and Aunt Penny are still working on it. One of these days we'll find out when the O'Donaghue family crossed over and became Donnahoo. We are back as far as the early 1800s in the southeast US but no hint of immigration in that family line.

I'm sure you have read a lot about Saint Patrick. Did he really run the snakes out of Ireland? Probably not. But he did help bring Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century. And he did it through faith and love, not by force, as many countries were converted around that time.

So I wore green to work but I raised a glass of sparkling water in his honor. What did you expect from a Mormon? }B^)