Top O The Morning To Ya! I'm Midnight and I'll be mewr host today. Welcome to My Furrst Annual St Paddy's Party. My meowmie's family is Irish in origin and we love to celebrate St Patrick's Day. I hope mew'll come on in, take a look around and enjoy the party.

"So what is St Patrick's day anyway?" mew may be asking. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th. This Irish holiday has everycat wearing green (so they don't get pinched) and mewing about four leaf clovers, shamrocks, lucky leprechauns, and kissing some big rock called a blarney stone.




Saint Patrick's name at birth was Maewyn Succat and he was born somewhere near the end of the fourth century and took on the name Patrick after he became a priest, much later in his life. Patrick was about sixty years old when he arrived in Ireland and it is said that he had a winning personality that helped him win converts.



Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries and setting up schools and churches to aid in converting the Irish country to Christianity. Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Evidently, they all went into the sea and drowned. The snake is a pagan symbol and perhaps this is a figurative tale explaining that he drove paganism out of Ireland.

Patrick's mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. He then retired to County Down and died on March 17 in 461 AD. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since. The first year St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in this country was 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. As the saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!" Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades.

So what's all this talk of kissing the Blarney Stone? Blarney Castle is located in County Cork, Ireland. Built in 1446 by the Lord of Muskerry, the Blarney stone is located in the southern tower wall between the main castle wall and the parapet. The origins of the Blarney Stone's magical properties aren't clear, but one legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly. It's hard to reach the stone as it's between the main castle wall and the parapet. Kissers have to stretch to their back and bend backward and downward, holding iron bars for support.

Here are two links where mew can Kiss the Blarney Stone from mewr catputer!

Note: Mew will leave my site for these

Kiss The Blarney Stone

Kiss The Blarney Stone Version 2

Just what does a Leprechaun look like and why are they so special? A Leprechaun (Irish fairy) looks like a little old man. He's about 2 feet tall and dresses like a shoemaker with a cocked hat and leather apron. A Leprechaun's personality is described as aloof and unfriendly. They live alone and pass the time by making shoes. They're special because they also possess a hidden pot of gold. The name leprechaun is derived from the old Irish word luchorpan which means "little body." Leprachauns are magical creatures that are greedy beyond belief for all things gold. They are also adept at getting through locks and remaining unseen. Leprachauns are known to live in remote places.

If you listen closely for the sound of their hammer you might be able to capture one. If you do you can force him (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal where he's hidden his treasure. Be careful! Do not take your eyes off him for if you do he will surely vanish and your hopes of finding his treasure will vanish with him.

One traditional icon of St Patrick's day is the shamrock or three leaf clover (not the four leaf clover we think of as being lucky). This comes from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity (representing how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity). His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

So why do we all wear green? Probably because mew'll be pinched if mew don't! School children started this tradition. Green is also the color of spring and the shamrock and is connected with hope and nature.