Kiss me, I’m

Irish

Charles, did you put on your green underwear?

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IRELAND

IRISH FLAG

• the green represents the Gaelic tradition of Ireland, the native people of Ireland

• the orange represents the followers of William of Orange in Ireland who settled in Northern Ireland

• the white represents the peace, between these two groups of people.

Ireland,17th March

St. Patrick’s Day

WHO WAS ST. PATRICK?

• Facts about Saint Patrick • St. Patrick was born in 385

AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the

Welsh town of Banwen. • At age 16, he was captured

and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped

when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery.

• In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian

missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at

Downpatrick. http://www.fantasy-ireland.com/prayer-of-st-patrick.html

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast

day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The

Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a

thousand years.

On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of

Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the

morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions

against the consumption of meat were waived and people

would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish

bacon and cabbage.

WATCH: http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/videos#history-of-st-patricks-day

St. Patrick's Day

http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-da

Facts about St. Patrick's Day Holiday

• In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks

on their jackets or caps. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and

girls wear green ribbons in their hair.

• Many cities have a St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has a huge

St. Patrick’s Day festival from March 15-19, that features a parade, family carnivals,

treasure hunt, dance, theatre and more. In North American, parades are often held on the

Sunday before March 17. Some paint the yellow street lines green for the day! In

Chicago, the Chicago River is dyed green with a special dye that only lasts a few hours.

There has been a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Massachusetts since 1737.

Montreal is home to Canada’s longest running St. Patrick’s Day parade, which began in

1824.

New York City dyes the river green for Saint Patrick's Day. .

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http://www.freakingnews.com/Irish-Leprechaun-Pictures-33870.asp

THE SHAMROCK/THE CLOVER

The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized

the rebirth of spring.

WATCH: http://www.history.com/videos/shamrocks

Facts about Clovers •

• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14!

• One estimate suggests that there are about 10 000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.

• Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

By the seventeenth century, the shamrock had become a symbol of

emerging Irish nationalism. As the English began to seize Irish land

and make laws against the use of the Irish language and the practice of

Catholicism, many Irish began to wear the shamrock as a symbol of their pride in their heritage and their displeasure with English rule.

• Shamrocks came to be associated with St. Patrick's Day because the patron saint of Ireland used the three-leafed plant as a

metaphor for the Christian concept of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Shamrock or clover? • A shamrock is a common name for a clover. But

as American botanist Kathleen Pelkki explains, a shamrock is a common name for any number of plants belonging to the genus Trifolium, from the Latin meaning "having three leaves.„

• The plant most commonly referred to as shamrock is white clover or Trifolium repens. The Irish word "seamrog," from which shamrock comes, means "little clover." Black medic, wood sorrel, and the hop clover have also been called shamrocks.

http://ask.yahoo.com/20040317.html

Irish

Music

• Music is often associated with St Patrick’s

Day—and Irish culture in general. From ancient

days of the Celts, music has always been an

important part of Irish life. The Celts had

an oral culture, where religion, legend and

history were passed from one generation to the

next by way of stories and songs. After being

conquered by the English, and forbidden to speak

their own language, the Irish, like other

oppressed peoples, turned to music to help them

remember important events and hold on to their

heritage and history. As it often stirred emotion

and helped to galvanize people, music was

outlawed by the English. During her reign,

Queen Elizabeth I even decreed that all artists

and pipers were to be arrested and hanged on the

spot.

• Today, traditional Irish bands like The

Chieftains, the Clancy Brothers and

Tommy Makem are gaining worldwide

popularity. Their music is produced

with instruments that have been used

for centuries, including the fiddle, the

uilleann pipes (a sort of elaborate

bagpipe), the tin whistle (a sort of

flute that is actually made of nickel-

silver, brass or aluminum) and the

bodhran (an ancient type of

framedrum that was traditionally used

in warfare rather than music).

http://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day-symbols-and-traditions

Uilleann pipes

bodhran

CELTIC CHRISTIAN CROSS

CELTIC CROSS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_cross

CHRISTIAN CROSS

CELTIC CHRISTIAN or IRISH CROSS

• In Ireland it is a popular legend that the Celtic Christian cross was introduced by

Saint Patrick during his time converting the pagan Irish.

• It has often been claimed that Patrick combined the symbol of

Christianity with the sun cross,

to give pagan followers an idea of the importance of the cross by linking it with the idea of the life-giving properties of the sun.

• Other interpretations claim that placing the cross on top of the circle represents

Christ's supremacy over the pagan sun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_cross

QUIZ

How much do you know about St. Patrick and Irish culture?

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in different places around the world. Complete

the sentences with these words.

Harp Chicago potatoes Dublin 4.5 Boston pot of gold 70

shamrock 2 orange March

1. The population of the Republic of Ireland is ............................ million.

2. There are ............................ official languages in the Republic of Ireland.

3. The national flag of the Republic of Ireland is green, white and ............................ .

4. St. Patrick’s Day is on ............................ 17th.

5. A traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal consists of ............................ and cabbage.

6. The first St. Patrick’s day parade took place in ............................ .

7. On St. Patrick’s day the river is coloured green in ............................ .

8. The ............................ is a plant that brings luck.

9. The national emblem of Ireland is the ............................ .

10. ............................ is the capital of the Republic of Ireland.

11. Leprechauns are about ............................ cm tall.

12. If you catch a leprechaun, he has to show you where he keeps his

............................ .

Read the texts to check your answers

to Activity 1.

Ireland

Ireland is an island situated in the north-west of Europe. It is divided into the Republic of Ireland, which people often refer to as Ireland, and Northern Ireland. The population of the Republic of Ireland is 4.5million.

There are two official languages in the Republic of Ireland: English and Irish.

The national flag is green, white and orange.

St. Patrick

He is a patron saint of Ireland, but he was born in Britain at the end of the 4th century. When he was young, he was sold as a slave in Ireland. Then he escaped to France where he lived at a monastery. He later returned to Ireland and taught people about Christianity. St. Patrick died on March 17th. The date of his death was chosen for St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland

In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday. People attend church services and eat a traditional meal of potatoes and cabbage. A four-day long St. Patrick’s Day Festival takes place in Dublin, the capital of the Republic of Ireland. There is a parade, music and fireworks.

St. Patrick’s Day in the USA

The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was organized in Boston, the USA. More than a hundred American cities hold St. Patrick’s Day parades. Participants wear green clothes as green is the popular colour of Ireland.

Even the river in Chicago is coloured green on St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish symbols

The most famous Irish symbol is the shamrock, which is a small plant with three

leaves. Irish people believe that it brings good luck. Ireland’s national emblem is the

harp, which you can see for instance on the Irish euro coin.

Leprechauns

These are little creatures from Irish legends and you can see them on St. Patrick’s

Day greeting cards. Leprechauns are about 70 cm tall. They are rich and keep their

pot of gold in secret places. If you catch a leprechaun, he has to show you where he

keeps his gold. However, if you turn your eyes away even for a second, the

leprechaun will run away.

© Macmillan Polska 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE

TO SUM UP….

Who is Saint Patrick?

•Saint Patrick was a missionary

who lived in Ireland. He died

around March 17, 493.

•When he was 16 years old,

Saint Patrick was captured and

made a slave.

•He was a slave for six years.

When is Saint Patrick's day?

•It is on Thursday, March 17,

2011.

•We celebrate it by wearing

green clothes.

•We say "Happy Saint Patrick's

Day!"

Who is this?

•It is a leprechaun.

•Leprechauns are little fairies

who live in Ireland.

•They play tricks on people

What does this picture

represent?

•It represents an Irish saying:

"There is a pot of gold at the

end of every rainbow.

What do people eat on Saint

Patrick's Day?

•They eat corned beef,

cabbage, and potatoes.

•You can boil all these items

together in a large pot.

•Most people put mustard on

their corned beef.

Are there parades on Saint

Patrick's Day?

•Yes, there are. This parade was

in New York City in 2006.

•The first celebration of Saint

Patrick's Day in the United

States was in Boston,

Massachusetts in 1737.

Why is the water in this river

green?

•The city of Chicago dyes the

river green for Saint Patrick's

Day.

Many Irish people live in

Chicago

by elcivics.com