Saturday, March 17, 2018

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - St. Patrick's Day Memories

It's Saturday Night - 
time for more Genealogy Fun! 



Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:


1)  It's St. Patrick's Day, so I know that you participated in "festivities" as a child and teenager.

2)  What memories do you have of celebrating St. Patrick's Day in your family?

3)  Share your stories in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

Here's mine:

We were not of Irish descent, but as a kid I celebrated the holiday along with the other kids in school and the neighborhood.

*  I made a point to wear something green, but not a lot of green, hoping to fool my buddies into pinching me because I wasn't wearing green.  Of course, if my brother or my buddies weren't wearing green, then they were fair game to pinch.  I don't think I tried to pinch girls for some smart reason.

*  On the weekend before St. Patrick's Day, my brother and I and friends would go to the nearby park and try to find four-leaf clovers in the new grass (Springtime in San Diego is green!).

*  I don't recall exchanging cards or gifts for the day, at least until I was married.  

*  I recall having green sugar cookies in the shape of a shamrock at home and in school.

*  San Diego did not have a big Irish community, and I don't recall having parades or big shows on the day.  

*  It wasn't until I got married that we had the "standard" Irish food on St. Patrick's Day.  My new wife ensured we had corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots every year on the day.  That was her family's tradition (she has some Irish ancestry).  

*  After we were married, we occasionally went out to dinner at an Irish restaurant called McDini's in National City during the week of the holiday.

*  My parents were not drinkers, so we did not have Irish whiskey or beer.  As adults, we never went out to an Irish bar on St. Patrick's Day.  


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Copyright (c) 2018, Randall J. Seaver

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3 comments:

Campbell Kid Corner said...

I went to a mostly Irish parochial grade school. The school staff and students always celebrated this day. We wore green shamrocks or similar items. We had a strict dress code that specified that only certain colors could be worn, but some latitude was allowed on this day. However, it was very much frowned upon when several kids came to school with their blonde hair dyed green. I don’t remember parties because St Paddy’s Day always fell during lent. It was just a more fun day with songs and the retelling of the story of St. Patrick’s missionary work. My great sorrow was knowing that my Irish ancestors were Scotch Irish.

Linda Stufflebean said...

I have no Irish ancestry, nor were there any Irish-related friends in my neighborhood. Here's my link: https://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2018/03/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-st-patricks-day-memories/

Seeds to Tree said...

St. Patrick's day is fun in Chicago. There a long line of Irish mayors named Daley which helps. The river is dyed a bright green and there is a huge parade. We always wore green on the 17th (except for the year I wore orange - something about it was the opposite of Irish, or maybe it for the protestant Irish instead of the Irish Catholic - I can't remember.) Corned beef and cabbage for dinner. Yum! In my early adult years we had a very Irish friend, last name Conley, who spent the day going from bar to bar. He gave his friends and co-workers a list of where he'd be and when, mostly along the parade route. We'd catch up with him for a bar or two, catch a bit of the parade and then head out on our own. It was fun!

I made corned beef and cabbage until a few years ago, when it was just my husband and me and it was just too much food. We go out and order it. My mother is 24% Irish, but I don't remember it being a special holiday for our family because of it. But living in Chicago, it was nice to actually BE Irish.