Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Wearing of the Green


Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated throughout many countries these days, but it did not start out as the fun holiday that most of us know and look forward to every year.  It was first observed as an official feast day in the early seventeeth century in Ireland, and is now a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador and in Montserrat.  All over the world wherever the Irish diaspora settled, March 17th has become an annual day to celebrate Saint Patrick and the Irish culture. 

A lot of Patrick's early life is not known.  He was born in Roman Britain to a wealthy family, and was kidnapped by Irish slavers and taken to Ireland.  He escaped and later returned to Britain where he began studying as a priest.  He stated that God told him he was needed in Ireland to teach the people the true meaning of Christianity and he used the shamrock leaf as a symbol to explain the Trinity to his flock.  He died on March 17 461 and is purportedly buried in Downpatrick. 

There are not many books about Saint Patrick in the catalog, but additional books can be ordered through interlibrary loan. 

St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography by Philip Freeman

St. Patrick The Apostle of Ireland-DVD

Patrick: Son of Ireland by Stephen R. Lawhead

The Life and Writings of the historical Saint Patrick by R.P.C. Hanson

Who Was Saint Patrick by E.A. Thompson

Other things Celtic and Irish in the catalog include:

Celtic Crossroads  DVD

The Secret of Kells  DVD

The Wind that Shakes the Barley  DVD

Celtic Woman  DVD

The Best of Riverdance  DVD

The Boy and Girl from County Clare  DVD

Darby O'Gill and the Little People  DVD

In Search of Ancient Ireland  DVD

The Secret of Roan Innish  DVD

In the Name of the Father  DVD

Voyage  by Celtic Thunder Music CD

T With the Maggies  Music CD

A Day Without Rain by Enya Music CD

Tears of Stone by The Chieftains  Music CD

Some new 2012 books listed are:

The Last Storyteller by Frank Delaney

Dublin Dead by Gerard O' Donovan

On an Irish Island by Robert Kanigel

The Irish Way: Becoming American in the Multiethnic City by James R. Barrett

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