Kiss Us, We're Irish
My college roommate's mother, a famous Irish singer named Carmel Quinn.Every year in New York after I met Terry, we'd go to Carnegie Hall tonight on St. Paddy's Day to see her mother sing. Arthur Godfrey had brought Carmel over from Ireland when she was a young woman to be on his show. Now, let's have a show of hands. Who knows who Arthur Godfrey is? Think "ukelele." Anybody? Geez. I am old.
So, that was a good part of being Irish. It was a night of the best Irish singers in New York. There's nothing like hearing an Irish tenor sing Danny Boy to bring tears to your blue eyes.
Things we Irish are good at:
- Telling stories
- Drinking
- Having babies
- Doing what it takes to make babies
- Having lovely accents
- Obeying God, as long as He doesn't get in our way
- Guilt
- Arguing
- Writing
- Taking both the high road and the low road to Lochloman
- Grieving/wailing
- Death
I won't get into what we're bad at. That wouldn't be celebratory.
I must say, the thing that makes me proudest of Irish people is that we finally got past The Troubles and created a booming economy over there. I can't actually say "we" in that except for the American part: sending George Mitchell to broker the agreement. I never could understand - as in so many civil conflicts - how people even knew who to fight. They all looked identical as far as I could tell. I guess it's people who knew each other for generations, so they knew who the Orange Men were.
Now, in true Irish fashion, I gotta go write. Top o' the mornin' to ya and all that. Here's the ol' Irish blessing to speed you on your way:May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
Lucy, my Irish terrier.
posted by dcnative @ 9:40 AM
2 Comments:
Lovely post, darlin', it brought back some memorable times with the Guilfoyle clan on St Paddy days past. Speaking of which, I'd have to put 'fighting' as one of 'things we're good at'. Tis true... I've seen many a tussle on that very day, in fact, but they never lasted long, and most were quickly forgotten. More often than not, the 'combatants' would be laughing together by the end of the evening. I don't know if that is emblematic of all of our people, or just a sad commentary on the Guilfoyle crew...Ah well then, Erin Go Bragh!
BG
Ah, Billy... sure'n we all know about the fightin' Irish. You're right they do it well, but wouldn't that fall into the negative category? I also left out "bearing grudges" for that same reason.
You've heard the old joke: what do you get when you cross a pig with an Irishman?
A: A pig who bears a grudge.
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