Paddy, not Patty

The big day is coming. Are you ready?

The big day is coming — the day when people all over the world celebrate everything Irish. If you’re like me, you probably already know what you’re going to be wearing, where you’re going to be celebrating, and who (and what!) you’re going to be celebrating with. You’ve laid in a supply of Guinness (or — gack! — green beer!), and the craic is ready to start flowing!

There’s just one question: What do you call the occasion we’re all going to be celebrating? Who is being commemorated?

Come on! Let’s shout it out together!

A haon, a dó, a trí —

Happy Saint….er…Saint Who?

What did you say?

How many of you skipped the English entirely and said “Lá fheile Pádraig sona”? Maith sibh! Go to the head of the class!

How many of you said “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”? Dead on! Gold star for you!

Did any of you say “Happy St. Paddy’s Day”? Sure, that’s fine.

Anyone say “Happy St. Pat’s”? Eh…sure, that’s OK.

But did any of you say “St. Patty’s Day”? Really? Seriously?

Ouch. OK, it’s remedial education for you! So, while the other kids go out for recess (or more likely to buy more green beer and Guinness), you get to sit through….

Culture and manners 090

I’ll start by saying it straight out: There is no such thing as “St. Patty’s Day.” There was no such person as “St. Patty.” It doesn’t matter what it says on the card your grandmother sent you, or on the tacky green T-shirt in the drug store, or even on the corned beef display at the supermarket — “St. Patty’s Day” is just plain wrong. End of story.

In Ireland, as in the U.S., “Patty” is traditionally a girl’s/woman’s name — short for the name “Patricia.” The usual nicknames for a boy or man named “Patrick” are “Pat,” “Patsy,” “Pa,” or “Paddy.”

That’s right: Paddy with d’s, not with t’s.

Why? Because it comes from the Irish-language form of the name of the man English speakers call “St. Patrick”: Naomh Pádraig.

Generally pronounced “PAW-drig,” with the tongue placed against the back of the top front teeth to form the “d” sound, Pádraig was how the Irish to whom he ministered rendered Patricius, St. Patrick’s name in religion (His actual given name is thought to have been Maewyn Succat. Before he became first a slave and then an apostle in Ireland, he was a Roman citizen born somewhere in Great Britain — the most likely candidates being Wales or Scotland. But that’s for another post).

The “Patty” confusion likely resulted from Americans unfamiliar with the nickname “Paddy” mis-hearing the d’s as t’s.

Mis-hearings happen. That’s not the problem. The problem is that people persist in saying and writing “St. Patty” even when they’re told it’s wrong. And that’s just rude.

Names matter. It’s a matter of respect.

Ask an Irish person what they think about people from other countries referring to St. Patrick’s Day as “St. Patty’s Day,” and you’re likely to get an eye roll and a (hopefully) good-natured explanation of why it’s “Paddy” and not “Patty.” Tell them you’re going to keep saying “Patty” anyway because that’s how you learned it/that’s how your “very Irish” (American) great uncle said it/that’s what it sounds like to you/etc., and you’re likely to get, at best, a cold shoulder.

It really does come down to respect — respect for Irish culture (which is NOT the same as Irish-American culture), history, and language. It is “Paddy” because “Paddy” is an Irish male name derived from a name in the Irish language. It’s not “Patty” because that name is NOT an Irish male name, and has never been used in Ireland to refer to the saint, to the holiday, or even to ordinary men and boys named “Patrick.” It’s really that simple.

To put it in perspective, it’s a little like calling “Dia de los Muertos” “Day of the Mortos,” or Diwali “Denali” (Yes, I’ve heard both). Done in ignorance it’s one thing, but done with full knowledge that it’s incorrect, and with no attempt to do it correctly, it’s an insult.

Or to put it another way, when people refuse to call you by your name, whether it’s the one you were given at birth or one you’ve chosen, and instead call you by something that they prefer, it’s disrespectful, yes? Yes! Pure and simple. It doesn’t matter why they prefer it — whether, to their mind, it’s easier to pronounce, or easier to remember, or if it’s the first name they learned for you and they don’t want to learn to use another, or if it helps them keep track of multiple people with similar names, or any number of a plethora of excuses — it’s your name, and you have the right to insist that people use it. They may get it wrong from time to time, but it matters that they keep trying. If they can’t be bothered, they’re just being jerks.

You don’t want to be a jerk, do you? Not on St. Patrick’s Day! Not on any day!

Just say Paddy.

Here endeth the mythbusting

This post is the third and final post in my 2024 St. Patrick’s Day “mythbusting” series (the other two being Rising Roads and Other Rants and Ramblings and The Saint and the Shamrock). I hope you’ve found them useful, and perhaps been able to educate others about these misconceptions that, unlike the roads, always seem to arise around St. Patrick’s Day!

Here’s wishing you all a fun, happy, and safe St. Patrick’s Day! Lá fheile Pádraig slán sona daoibh!

Featured image “Paddy vs. Patty” designed by Anna “Acey” Nickel for “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” © 2024. Use authorized if properly credited. Enjoy Acey’s blog “Simpsons Sundays” at Acey‘s Word Vomit Emporium.

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

The Saint and the Shamrock

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day! Just about three weeks to go! Grocery stores, drug stores, and big box stores are awash with every imaginable shade of green now that Valentine’s Day pink has faded away, and products ranging from greeting cards to green ravioli vie for shoppers’ attention.

As I mentioned in my post of February 28, 2024, Rising Roads and Other Rants and Ramblings, this is also the time of year when Irish stereotypes and misconceptions come crawling out of the woodwork. In that post I talked about the infamous “May the road rise to meet you” blessing (If you haven’t read that post yet, this is a mistranslation that makes Irish speakers all over the world cringe. Read it. Get your friends and family to read it. Please. I beg you.)

In this post I’d like to talk about another misconception that plagues us at this time of year, specifically the confusion of the ubiquitous shamrock, Ireland’s best-known national symbol, with the four-leaf clover.

Leaves of three

I’m just going to say this up front: The Irish shamrock has three leaves. Period. It doesn’t matter how many cards, posters, or cute outfits feature four-leaf clovers on St. Patrick’s Day, the four-leaf clover is not a symbol of Ireland, nor does it have any particular affinity with Ireland.

That said, for some reason, many people, in the U.S. and elsewhere, continue to confuse the two. While four-leaf clovers do exist, and are considered lucky the world over because of their rarity, the shamrock is indisputably a three-leaf clover.

Why does it matter, you ask? Consider how the shamrock came to be a St. Patrick’s Day icon.

Three in one and one in three

Legend has it that St. Patrick used a sprig of clover to demonstrate the concept of the Holy Trinity when attempting to convert Irish pagans to Christianity. The three leaves joined in the middle was meant to illustrate how one god could exist as three persons. There’s a nice little article on this story here, from Time.com:

Shamrocks Are Everywhere on St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s How the Three-Leaf Clover Became a Symbol of All Things Irish

For what it’s worth, Irish pagans probably wouldn’t have needed (or wanted) such a graphic illustration, given that they were already quite familiar with the concept of a triune god/goddess, but this does underscore the reason why the Irish shamrock must always have three leaves.

The significance of the Holy Trinity to St. Patrick, and to Christianity in general, is further demonstrated in the first section of the well-known “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” or Lúireach Phádraig, translated and versified thus:

I bind unto myself this day the strong name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the three in one and one in three.

The Breastplate of St. Patrick

While the story of St. Patrick, the Trinity, and the shamrock is almost certainly apocryphal, it’s the very reason the three-leafed shamrock has become a symbol of Ireland and an icon of St. Patrick’s Day. So why is it so often confused with the four-leaf clover?

Why the confusion? And what’s so lucky about it?

How did the lucky four-leaf clover come to be confused with the three-leafed Irish shamrock? There are multiple theories, but the one I’m most inclined to believe is that it comes from the California goldrush-era expression “The luck of the Irish.”

Although that phrase likely was originally intended to be sarcastic or derogatory (Ireland’s history, and the history of the Irish in America, not having always been all that lucky), it’s been widely embraced by Irish Americans as a positive expression of Irish fraternity (“If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough”).

Given the mixture of a lucky symbol, a saying about Irish luck, and an Irish holiday that widely features a type of clover, confusion is bound to arise and, in my opinion anyway, most likely did.

And speaking of clover…

The real Irish shamrock really IS a type of clover — not the wood sorrel (Oxalis) that is often sold as “shamrock” at this time of year (so often, in fact, that some species of sorrel have acquired the colloquial name “false shamrock”).

The English word “shamrock” comes from the Irish seamróg (rough pronunciation “SHAM-rohg),” a word that combines the word for “clover,” seamair (rough pronunciation “SHAM-er”) with the suffix -óg (rough pronunciation “ohg”), meaning “young”. It simply means “young (or small) clover.”

The actual shamrock is thought to be either Trifolium dubium or Trifolium repens. Which one you prefer may well depend on what part of Ireland you happen to be in, but Trifolium dubium is generally considered to the be most likely candidate.

Wood sorrel does look more like the stylized depiction of shamrocks one tends to see on cards and Aer Lingus planes, and it certainly does make a pretty potted plant (It tastes good too! A little like rhubarb!), but referring to it as “genuine Irish shamrock,” as I’ve often seen on St. Patrick’s Day gift displays, is definitely overstating its qualifications!

Coming up next…

This is the second of a few St. Patrick’s Day language posts I have planned for the lead-up to March 17, 2024. Stay tuned for the next installment: “St. Patrick’s Nickname: Paddy not Patty.”

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

Rising Roads and Other Rants and Ramblings

March 17 is almost upon us! St. Patrick’s Day is wildly popular here in the U.S. (we love an excuse to party!) and, by mid-February, you can hardly walk through a supermarket or drug store without being nearly smothered in green glitter. In fact, just about anything that can conceivably be tinted gets the green treatment — from bagels to beer, and even rivers and fountains.

Even now, just a few days after Lá ‘le Bríde and less than a week before Valentine’s Day, you’ll see plenty of green peeking through the pink, red, and white at places such as Target and Walgreens. And the offensive Facebook memes have already started.

Yes, this is also the time of year when Irish stereotypes good and bad (many having to do with drunkeness) come crawling out of the woodwork. If I never see that “Irish yoga” meme again, it will be too soon!*

A lot of stereotypes and other oddities that we see around St. Patrick’s Day, however, are not offensive — just based on ignorance and misinformation (and usually perpetuated by Hallmark and yes…more internet memes).

Fortunately, you have your very own geek to set you straight (or to help you set your friends straight)!

*If you haven’t seen this meme (yet!), first, aren’t you the lucky one? Inebriated young women passed out in various awkward poses and surrounded by empty bottles, captioned as “Irish Yoga.” It pops up in my Facebook feed every year, despite numerous complaints to the powers that be.

Focus on language

While misconceptions and misattributions are rife at this time of year (don’t get me started on sugary sweet English rhymes masquerading as traditional Irish sayings, and definitely don’t get me started on leprechauns!), given the usual topics I write about, I’ve decided to focus over the next few weeks on a few things related directly to the Irish language, starting with one that sets my teeth on edge every time I hear it. Can you guess which one that is?

(Of course you can. You’ve read the title of this post.)

No road elevations, please!

It’s everywhere. On tea towels and commemorative plaques. On greeting cards and posters. In modern “folk” songs and schmaltzy choral arrangements. On coffee cups, and even on pub walls! The first time I heard it was in the mid ’70s at the end of each and every episode of the old CBC Wednesday-evening Irish Rovers TV show (Usually appended with a bunch of “Oirish-y” sayings and ending with “and may you be a half hour in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead.” I think I was in my 30s before I realized that wasn’t actually a part of the blessing!)

Yep…you guessed it. It’s the The ubiquitous, unavoidable, so-called “ancient Irish blessing.”

You know the one I mean:

“May the road rise to meet you”*

People absolutely love it. I’ve seen people argue vociferously for its validity, even inventing detailed (and wrong) analysis to explain exactly what “May the road rise to meet you” means.

“The ancient Irish believed that…”. [No, they didn’t]

“The road rising is a metaphor for…”. [No, it isn’t]

Nope. None of that. This famous (infamous?) blessing is based on a mistranslation by someone who either didn’t understand Irish idioms or didn’t know that translating word for word from one language to another can be a recipe for disaster.

*Sometimes rendered as “May the road rise up to meet you” or “May the road rise with you.”

Good news: It actually IS Irish

One positive thing about this saying: Unlike a lot of things that appear on greeting cards, etc., it is actually Irish…in fact, it’s the first line of a blessing IN Irish:

Go n-éirí an bóthar leat

Further, it’s clearly based on a misunderstanding of Irish (and possibly even English) idiom, rather than on someone attempting to write something “Celtic-like” (way too much of that out there!) You can see how, if a person weren’t familiar with the often subtle ins and outs of translation, they could have gotten to this point. I mean, if you really are going word for word, it’s obvious, even if it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Go n-éirí — May rise
an bóthar — the road
leat — with-you (singular)

The problem is, while that may be the literal reading, the phrase doesn’t actually say that. It’s a matter of idiom.

Idioms, idioms!

Before we break this down, let’s take a look at one of the primary definitions of “idiom,” with help from Merriam-Webster.com:

IDIOM 1: an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself, either grammatically (such as no, it wasn’t me) or in having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (such as ride herd on for “supervise”).

English has a lot of idioms for which the meaning can’t be derived from the meanings of its elements (in other words, can’t be taken literally, word for word). For example:

“I ate a ton of chips last night!” (No, I didn’t actually eat 2,000 pounds of chips, though it may have felt like it!)

“It’s raining cats and dogs!” (No, domestic animals aren’t actually falling from the sky!)

What a different a preposition makes!

It should come as no surprise that Irish is rife with idioms too. Most (perhaps all) languages are.

One interesting feature of the language is that certain verbs change meaning when paired with certain prepositions. One classic example is Buail, the basic meaning for which is “hit/strike/beat”:

Bhuail mé Seán aréir: “I hit Seán last night.” (Seán bocht!)

When you pair Buail with the preposition le (with), however, its meaning changes. It becomes “meet”:

Bhuail mé le Seán aréir: I met Seán last night.

You would never translate that sentence as “I hit with Seán last night” (Though I’d love to see the analysis breakdown for that one! “The ancient Irish believed”…no, they didn’t!)

Another word that changes meaning when combined with the preposition le is éirigh — the root form of éirí in the phrase in question.

While the basic meaning of éirigh IS “rise,” in most cases (and this is one of them), éirigh combined with any form of le* means “succeed.”

*Leat is an inflected form of le, and it’s what’s known as a prepositional pronoun. It combines the concept of “with” with the singular form of the word for “you” — tú. For more on prepositional pronouns, see my post from January 2020 — “The Modest Preposition.”

Exceptions, exceptions

Of course there are exceptions. This is a language we’re talking about (and a living language at that!) — there will ALWAYS be exceptions!

In most cases, however, the exceptions are clear cut, and mostly common sense. Éirigh le can mean “rise by/along with/with the aid of,” for example (from Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla):

Éirí leis na héin — Rise/get up with the lark

D’éirigh an leanbh le cos na cathaoireach — The child got up with the aid of the chair leg.

This sentence doesn’t fall into that category, however. The road isn’t rising with your aid (and, given the construction, neither are you rising with the aid of the road). It falls into the much simpler category — “succeed/pass/manage.” Again, with the aid of Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla:

D’éirigh leis — he succeeded

D’éirigh léi imeacht — she managed to get away

And an even closer example:

Má éiríonn an scrúdú leo — if they pass the test (i.e., if they are successful with the test).

Put bóthar (road) in the place of scrúdú (test) above, and substitute leat (with-you) for leo (with-them), and you can see what’s happening here:

Go n-éirí an bóthar leat: May you succeed [on/along] the road

But what about that road? (or what does IT really mean?)

Are we speaking of a literal road here? We could be, certainly. If I were wishing someone a safe drive on California’s Highway 17, for example (a truly hairy road!), I might say “go n-éirí an bóthar leat!”

In Irish, however, as in English, the word “road” can also be a metaphor for a journey, and often particularly for a journey through life. Think of these English expressions, for example:

As you travel on the road of life…

It’s a long and a dusty road, it’s a hard and a heavy load*

In fact, it’s a pretty common metaphor, and it’s the generally accepted interpretation among Irish speakers of bóthar in this sentence.

So what it comes down to is:

May you succeed (or prosper) on your journey [through life]

In essence, it’s an Irish bon voyage!

*Lyric from “I can’t help but wonder where I’m bound” by Tom Paxton

Putting it all together

It’s nice (and helpful!) to see things like this in context. In case you haven’t heard/seen the entire blessing in Irish, here it is in full*:

Go n-éirí an bóthar leat,
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl,
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d’aghaidh,
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna,
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos a láimhe thú.

May your journey through life be successful/prosper,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rain fall softly upon your fields,
And until we meet together again,
May God keep you in the palm of his hand.

Isn’t it much nicer when you know what you’re saying? And when it’s correct?

Now, the next time someone wishes you a rising road, YOU can set them straight! (Or just point them to this post!).

*There are several Irish language versions of this, all of which would be translated in the same way.

Coming up next…

This is the first of a few St. Patrick’s Day language posts I have planned for the lead-up to March 17, 2024. Stay tuned for the next installment: “The Saint and the Shamrock”.

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

Lá ‘le Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

A chairde,

It’s a crazy, different time in which we find ourselves! There’s nothing at all normal about this St. Patrick’s Day.

I don’t know how things are where you are, but I’m guessing not too different from where I am. Lock down. Pubs closed. Parades and masses canceled. Future events in doubt. Maybe you’re sitting home, as I am, wondering if you’ll even have a job a few weeks from now.

But you know what? It’s still St. Patrick’s Day! Lá ‘le Pádraig! It’s our day! I don’t know about you, but I’m going to celebrate in every way I can!

Green is definitely in my future tomorrow, even if I don’t have anywhere to wear it but in front of my computer. There’s a shot of Jameson’s waiting for a toast tomorrow evening. And, because it works out that I WILL be at home tomorrow, I will sing Óró ‘sé do bheatha abhaile tomorrow at noon with all the rest of you who will be doing so around the globe!

And, of course, there’s this song, without which St. Patrick’s Day never seems quite complete.

Dochas Linn Naomh Pádraig

Have a wonderful day tomorrow, a chairde. Go mbeirimid beo ag an am seo arís.

Le grá,

GG

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

St. Patrick’s Day and being Irish in the time of COVID-19

So, a chairde, this is not the post I thought I would be sharing today.

For the past several weeks I’ve been working on a post on what it means to say “I’m Irish.” It’s something several friends on both sides of the question have asked me to address — why it is that Irish-Americans insist on referring to themselves as “Irish.”

It’s something that really bothers some people, and a culture clash that seemed ripe for the sharing near St. Patrick’s Day. I get it. I’ve been working on it with the goal of publishing today, and I have to say that, as of yesterday morning, I was no more than three paragraphs short of giving it a final proof and hitting “publish.”

But in the end I couldn’t do it. Because, while there are valid arguments on both sides (“My grandfather came from Ireland!” “You’re not Irish, you’re American! Deal with it!”), right now, I can’t make myself focus on things that divide us.

So much has changed

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two weeks since the reality of the coronavirus exploded here in Northern California. Within 48 hours we went from “This is something we should maybe be worried about” to out-and-out panic. The reality of what was happening in China, Iran, and Italy suddenly became our reality (yeah…sometimes we’re a little slow on the uptake).

Now Italy is on lockdown. Ireland is on lockdown. Parts of the U.S. are “containment areas.” Our government tells us that our friends from Europe are no longer welcome here. Resorts here on the California Central Coast have turned into quarantine wards.

A little thing, but…

In the light of all this, it seems that the question of who is entitled to call themselves “Irish” is a pretty minor thing, as is the widespread cancellation of St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Parades, masses, sessions…those can be rescheduled, yes? Semantics and identity can be debated another day.

At the same time these minor things are the things that really hit us where we live, right? Somehow it’s a lot easier to accept the the Dow plummeting that it is to come to grips with the cancellation of seasonal festivities. That makes it personal.

And, while it’s undeniably an issue, let’s be honest: In the face of all this, does the question of who says “I’m Irish” really matter?

What has the Irish language ever done for you?

A few days ago, a friend asked me what value I’ve found in learning Irish. And I have to say, there’s been one heck of a lot.

There’s the satisfaction of learning a new language, which is pretty amazing, when you think of it. Another way to communicate. To a wordsmith, there is no greater joy.

There’s the connection to a culture that has drawn me from the time I was a teenager and first fell in love with Irish traditional music. I can’t begin to explain to you just how much that has meant to me. It’s a connection to my soul.

And yes…there’s the tremendous satisfaction of confounding telemarketers! (“I’m sorry ma’am. No one here speaks Chinese.” Somewhere in Connemara, Yu Ming is laughing!)

But, in the final analysis, the greatest gift Irish has given me is you.

The community I’ve found through Irish is easily the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Some of you are singers, some of you are poets or teachers, some of you are learners, some of you are fluent, or even native speakers. Some of you have no interest in learning the language at all, but have come into my life through Irish music. You come from the U.S. and Canada, from Germany and from England and from Brazil and from Japan, and, of course (where else?) from Ireland.

And in realizing this, I also realized that, in the face of this worldwide challenge, the last thing I wanted to focus on is something that divides us. It doesn’t matter what “Irish” means. What really matters is who we are, and what we have in common.

So what will you do on St. Patrick’s Day?

There’s no doubt that this year is going to be way different from other years. St. Patrick’s Day’s celebrations have been canceled from Dublin to New York!

I don’t know what you will do on March 17, but here’s what I will do:

I will reach out to my friends around the world, and rejoice in this language we share.

I will sing and make music, because that’s what I do.

I will hold my loved ones close.

I will walk outside and revel in the beauty that surrounds me.

And I will pray that next year we will look back on this time as something we got through together.

Is sibhse mo mhuintir. Is sibhse mo chroí. Is sibhse amhrán m’anama.

Le meas is le grá,

GG

* The featured image in this post was taken in Glencolmcille, Co. Donegal, in July, 2008. Glen Head and a dramatic Donegal sunset.

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

“English Only, Please!”

Language discrimination. You hear about it all the time.

A young woman is standing in a supermarket line, talking on the phone to her mother in Spanish, and someone taps her on the shoulder and says “This is America. We speak English here.”

Two college students are chatting in Arabic on the underground in London, and a big guy gets in their faces and tells them to bugger off back to their “own country.”

A couple of women go on holiday in Wales and come back red-faced and angry because “They were speaking Welsh in the pub, and we know they were talking about us!”

You hear about it, and it makes you angry, but you never really, truly internalize it until it happens to you.

Welcome to the World

I  spent this past weekend thoroughly enjoying the annual Los Angeles-area Deireadh Seachtaine Gaeltachta (Irish language immersion weekend), which was held this year in Thousand Oaks, CA. This was my fifth year at this event, and I always look forward to it. Wonderful people, An Ghaeilge an t-am ar fad…what’s not to love?

I’ll write more about the L.A. DSG a little later this week (I have a lot of photos and memories to organize!). I had a wonderful time! But right now I want to write about something that happened to some of us on the last day of the weekend, because it was very upsetting to all of us, and not something I feel I can let slide.

On Sunday, the last day of the DSG, a group of us decided to visit the nearby Gardens of the World…a botanical garden in the heart of Thousand Oaks.

Gardens of the World was established by Irish-American entrepreneurs Ed and Lynn Hogan as “a striking monument to commemorate the various cultures of the world.” It consists of five different gardens, each one dedicated to a particular world culture.

“Field trips” are a fun feature of the L.A. DSG…a chance to speak Irish in a different setting, with different conversational topics. As Gardens of the World is no more than a mile from where we were holding our classes, it seemed like a perfect place to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon, speaking Irish and enjoying the beautiful early summer weather.

Seeming is Not, Alas, Believing

I really wish I could say that the Gardens of the World was a good experience. I wanted it to be a good experience. I’d had a wonderful weekend, I love botanical gardens, and this seemed like a perfect cap to the occasion.

Sadly, things went pear-shaped rather quickly.

Three of us arrived shortly before the others and, noticing the very small parking lot, politely asked one of the docents if there were other places to park nearby. We were treated to an officious lecture about how limited space is in the gardens (it really isn’t all that limited, nor was it particularly crowded!). It was very clear that our little group presented a huge problem to this person, and she wanted to be sure we knew just how big a problem we were.*

Nothing like first impressions, eh?

Eventually the rest of our group found parking, and we set off to enjoy the gardens, chatting as Gaeilge.

A second confrontation

We hadn’t been in the gardens 15 minutes when we were confronted again, by the same docent.

We’d stopped at a display of the California missions and one of our number had begun to talk (in Irish, of course) about the missions and the role they played in the history of California,  for the sake of those among us who were from out of state.

Suddenly this woman confronted us again. She accused us of “conducting a private tour.” She accused the person who had been talking about the missions of “using an amplification device” (she wasn’t).  She complained again about the size of our group. Then she said the thing that turned our irritation into shock and outright anger:

“We can’t have you doing this in a foreign language, because we don’t know what you’re saying.”

To say that we were gobsmacked would be putting it mildly.

I have no idea what she thought we might have been saying that could possibly have been so bad that she felt threatened by the language we were speaking. Horrible things, such as “The Japanese garden is all about tranquility” or “The missions were established by the Spanish”? Or maybe “Roses are my favorite flower?” Or perhaps she thought we were talking about her, like the women in the Welsh pub?

You’d think a docent at a place called “Gardens of the World” would be more receptive to world languages, but apparently to some a rós is not a rose.

Well, we continued on our “tour,” and we didn’t stop speaking Irish, but that line continued to fester, and when we got back to the place where our classes were being held. we talked about it for a bit.

California is a state that people of many tongues call home, and that many more visit every year. There is no excuse for language discrimination in any place, but in a place as diverse as Southern California, it’s absolutely absurd.

I found it particularly ironic that this happened in a place that was established by a family with the surname “Hogan.” I don’t know if Ed and Lynn Hogan spoke Irish, but their ancestors certainly would have. And they would have faced terrible discrimination — a form of bigotry and cultural genocide that came very close to eradicating the language altogether.

I volunteered to write a letter, which I have done. If I hear back from them, I’ll update this post with their response.

Why the fear?

I’ve never understood the xenophobia that makes some people suspicious or resentful of those who speak another language.

Are some people actually so self-centered that they think that people speaking another language are talking about them? Really?

It’s a big world, full of people of many tongues and cultures. To my mind, one of the best parts of living in the 21st century is the opportunity we have, thanks to the internet, to communicate with people all over the world…to learn about languages and customs that our ancestors never had the chance to experience.

It’s time to let go of the fear. To learn to appreciate and enjoy diversity, rather than to resent and shun it. It’s time to celebrate the human family in all its wonderful variations.

A garden full of flowers of all the same color, shape, and scent, after all, would be a very dull place indeed.

Le meas,

GG

* In the interest of full disclosure, there is a line, buried in the small print on Gardens of the World’s website, asking groups of six or more to contact the gardens before they come. We  hadn’t seen it. We weren’t a large group, but there were more than six of us, and had we seen it, we most certainly would have called. And, had this been explained to us politely when we showed up, we would have been happy to break into smaller groups, as the reason we were given for the problem with larger groups was that they’re concerned about big groups interfering with the “traffic flow” in the gardens. Unfortunately, we were shown no politeness whatsoever — in fact, we were lectured as if we were naughty, and not particularly bright, little children — which, by the way, are also apparently not welcome in the gardens!

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

A Song for St. Patrick

On March 17, people throughout the world, Irish or not, will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. There will be green beer, green bagels, and shamrocks everywhere (or sometimes, mistakenly, four-leafed clovers. Take note, folks…the shamrock only has three leaves!).

Some people will don t-shirts with stereotypical and offensive slogans and images on them, get pissing drunk, sing maudlin American music hall songs, scarf down corned beef and cabbage (an American tradition, by the way, not an Irish one), and somehow persuade themselves that they are celebrating Irish culture.

I get it

I get it. I really do. Cultural festivals are fun. One of the nice things about our multicultural society is that we can learn about and enjoy aspects of other cultures.

So if you want to wear green on March 17, lift a glass of Guinness or two, or even if you just have to slake your passionate craving for corned beef and cabbage, by all means, do so! Fun is fun, after all!

But please…do tone it down a bit! Stereotypes are never OK.

St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland

Except for in some of the big cities, Irish observance of St. Patrick’s Day is very different from what you’ll find here in the U.S. There may be a parade. Perhaps a few more people will drop into the pub. The religious folks will go to Mass. But green fountains? Nah. Green beer? Certainly not! (how can you even drink that?)

St. Patrick was, after all, a bishop. He is known as the apostle of Ireland. While bishops weren’t quite as rigid back in the day, I doubt he would have been terribly impressed by some of the celebrations that go on in his name today.

My favorite St. Patrick’s Day song

There’s a hymn to St. Patrick that is a particular favorite of mine. We sing it every year at the Irish Mass in Mountain View, California, on the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day.

I’m not suggesting you go to Mass (well, unless you want to!), and you may not be terribly religious (If at all. You don’t have to be religious, or Christian, to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day), but I hope you enjoy this particular aspect of cultural appreciation. Never miss the opportunity to sing in Irish…that’s my motto!

I’ll leave you with the words, a translation, and a recording. And, of course, a happy St. Patrick’s Day! Lá ‘le Pádraig sona daoibh go léir!

Véarsa 1:

Dóchas linn Naomh Pádraig, aspal mór na hÉireann.

Ainm oirdhearc gléigeal, solas mór an tsaoil é.

D’fhill le soiscéal grá dúinn, ainneoin blianta ‘ngéibheann,

Grá mór Mhac na Páirte d’fuascail cách ón daorbhroid.

Véarsa 2:

Sléibhte, gleannta, maighe, ‘s bailte mór na hÉireann,

Ghlán sé iad go deo dúinn, míle glóir dár naomh dhil.

Iarr’mid ort, a Phádraig, guí orainn na Gaela,

Dia linn lá ‘gus oíche, ‘s Pádraig aspal Éireann.

Verse 1:

Our hope is St. Patrick, great apostle of Ireland.

A renowned and pure/bright name; a great light to the world.

He returned to us with the gospel of love, despite years of bondage.

The great love of God’s beloved son that freed all from slavery.

Verse 2:

Mountains, glens, plains, and great cities of Ireland,

He purified them for us forever; great glory to our dear saint.

We implore you, O Patrick, to pray for us, the Gael.

God with us day and night, and Patrick Ireland’s apostle.

(Note: Verse 1 repeats at the end in the recording above)

Éire go Brách!

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

Welcome Springtime!

Lá fhéile Bríde sona daoibh! Happy St. Brighid’s Day to you all!

I had hoped to write a completely new post for this special day, but time got away from me. Maybe next year!

So in celebration of the REAL first day of spring (Think the “first day of spring” is on the vernal equinox? Think again!), here’s a link to a post I wrote for Lá Fhéile Bríde  for Bitesize Irish in 2013.

It includes some background on the woman (or women?) who Christians know as a saint and Pagans know as a goddess, as well as some things you can do to celebrate her feast day.

St. Brighid’s Day: Comes the Irish Springtime

And, thanks to the wonderful Irish singer Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, here is a beautiful hymn to Brighid to brighten your day:

Gabhaim Molta Bríde

Wherever you are in this beautiful world, have a wonderful day! Bainigí sult as, agus Brat Bríde oraibh go léir! (Enjoy, and may Bríd’s cloak shelter you!)

GG.

 

 

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.

Oíche Shamhna, or Halloween, Old Irish Style

This post originally appeared on my Tumblr blog in October, 2016.

‘Tis the season! This is the time of year when an ancient Irish celebration turns our world black and orange and fills our streets with little (and sometimes not so little) ghosts, goblins, and superheroes.

Happy New Year!

In ancient Ireland, Oíche Shamna, or “Samhain Eve” (“Samhain,” pronounced “SOW-un” — first syllable rhymes with “cow” — is the name of the Old Irish new year celebration, which begins on the eve of November 1, and is thus also the Irish name for the month of November) was a time when the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead was believed to grow thin.

People believed that the dead, both good and bad, could walk among the living on that night. They prepared offerings of food and drink to welcome their beloved dead, as well as to appease spirits who might mean to do them ill.

People also believed that the fairy folk were better able to “cross over” on such a night. Fairies in Irish mythology are not elegant elves or glittery pixies. They are supernatural creatures that are, at best, mischievous, and, at worst, truly terrifying.

For this reason, treats would also be left out to propitiate any visiting fairies in the hope that they would leave the household alone. This eventually evolved into young people dressing up as such creatures (or as deceased ancestors) and going from house to house collecting goodies.

Sound familiar?

A Tradition that Spans Cultures

My recent travels took me to México, where I had the opportunity to view examples of Mexican art, both ancient and modern, with the guidance of local experts. It was quite an eye-opening experience!

I was struck by the similarities between the carvings in the ruins at Huatulco and Puerto Chiapas and some of the carvings on ancient Irish artifacts – particularly the use of the spiral and the “tree of life.”

The real eye-opener, however, was our visit to an art gallery in San José del Cabo that featured artwork based on the upcoming Méxican holiday Dia de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead.

Seeing a familiar holiday in a new light

Of course I was already familiar with Dia de los Muertos. I live in a place where it is widely celebrated. I’d never really given any thought, though, to how similar it is to the ancient Irish observance of Oíche Shamhna, which, over the span of centuries, eventually morphed into our modern Halloween.

The concept of honoring ancestors with their favorite foods and music; the sense of the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead growing thin, allowing the dead to visit the living; the acceptance of mortality as part of the cycle of life rather than something to be dreaded and shunned…all are significant aspects of both celebrations.

Even though I’ve celebrated Halloween all my life (and have known about its Irish roots since high school), and have lived among people who observe Dia de los Muertos for much of my adult life, just how closely the two celebrations are related never really clicked for me until that day in San José del Cabo.

Fascinating, isn’t it? Two completely different pre-Christian cultures, on two continents, evolving what is, essentially, the same celebration.

It gets even more fascinating when you look a little deeper and realize that similar celebrations have evolved on virtually every continent. Really makes you wonder if there might be something to it, doesn’t it?

In any case, I knew that I had to write something about Halloween and its Irish connections when I got home. The problem was (and is) that my travels have left me very short of time, and I wasn’t sure I could give the topic the justice it deserves.

Then I realized that I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

From the Archives

When I worked as a blog writer for Bitesize Irish in 2012 and 2013, I wrote extensively about Halloween, so I dug through my archives and found three posts that I think my followers will find interesting:

Oíche Shamhna (Halloween) Part 1 Happy New Year!: This post describes how the ancient Irish celebration evolved into the holiday we celebrate today.

Halloween Old Irish Style How the ancient Irish observed Oíche Shamhna, with suggestions incorporating some of these traditions into your own Halloween celebration.

Irish Language Phrases for Oíche Shamhna Irish words and phrases appropriate to the season, with phonetic pronunciation.

I hope you enjoy these posts. Please feel free to share the links, but please DON’T copy large blocks of text from them without the approval of the owners of Bitesize Irish.*

Oíche Shamhna shona daoibh go léir! (Happy Halloween to you all!)

GG

* Full Disclosure and a Plug

Or maybe it’s a plug and full disclosure. In any case, if you’re looking for an on-line program for learning Irish, Bitesize Irish is one I highly recommend (And not just because I used to work there.That’s the disclosure part. Don’t worry…I left on good terms, and still pop in from time to time in a supporting capacity)

The program is designed as a series of very short, “bite-sized” lessons, each of which can be completed relatively quickly. Lessons are categorized as “Grammar,” “Vocabulary,” and “Conversation,” and feature audio recorded by a native speaker.

Pricing is on a sliding scale depending on how much of the program you want to access. It’s a month-to-month set-up, so you can always leave (or upgrade!)

Bitesize offers extensive support, and additional resources, including frequent podcasts and a private Facebook group.

Anyway, if you’re looking for an affordable way to get started learning Irish, give it a look!

www.bitesizeirish.com

Slán go fóill, and Happy Trick or Treating!

GG

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In addition to being “The Geeky Gaeilgeoir,” Audrey Nickel is the author of  The Irish Gaelic Tattoo Handbook,” published by Bradan Press, Nova Scotia, Canada.  For information about the book, including where to buy it, please visit http://www.bradanpress.com/irish-tattoo-handbook/

PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM UNABLE TO OFFER TRANSLATIONS VIA THIS WEBSITE OR VIA EMAIL. IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A TRANSLATION, PLEASE VISIT THE IRISH LANGUAGE FORUM, WWW.IRISHLANGUAGEFORUM.COM.