“There are only two kinds of people on St. Patrick’s Day.
“Those who are Irish and those who wish they were.” —An Irish saying
Living in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a year in 1979-1980 meant that we could enjoy all the holidays there. I was particularly interested in seeing how the Irish spent St. Patrick’s Day. Amid the torrent of rain that March 17, my daughter and I attended as many events as was possible. All my memories of that year remain delightful, dramatic, and pleasing. They are contained in my book “Souls: A Portrait of Belfast.”
In 1727 Carob Thelkeid published the first list of Irish plants which included the shamrock. As an emblem or badge, the shamrock makes its appearance in 1881 for the first time. The occasion is a subdued one in Belfast.
Not everyone was Irish here, but up the Catholic Falls Road, the pubs were busy and merriments were the order of the day. The fourth annual St. Patrick’s Day parade had more than 1,000 individuals braving the elements to participate. The Ulster piper’s band, Piobairi Ukladh played traditional music. The rain soon would turn to sleet and then to snow this March 17.
I spoke with Belfast Lady Mayoress Bell after their return home from Berlin and asked her what the celebrations were like there. “It was even more exciting than home. Normally St. Patrick’s Day is quiet in Northern Ireland. A piper awakened us in the morning. Then the band arrived. The mayor went to the American Forces Network to do a television and radio spot. I visited a military hospital where I gave out the 2,000 shamrocksprigs that we had brought along.” The Lord Mayor and Mayoress of Belfast took part in the formal parade of the First Battalion, the Royal Irish Rangers.
The Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Down, is the Mother Church of the Diocese of Down. This diocese covers not only the rural countryside of towns and villages in Co. Down, but also a large part of Belfast. Here are genuine 14th Century and 15th Century works, architectural capitals numbering 15, depicting vine and oak leaves with acorns.
The St. Patrick’s stained-glass window was erected in 1937. I looked in wonder at the art and history contained inside the church. It was stunning. The journey there was taken on an Ulsterbus in the drenching and unrelenting rain. The group from St. Matthew’s off Newtownards Road in Belfast led us in joyful singing during the journey. The Irish countryside was luscious.
This noble building lay in ruins from 1538 to the late 18th Century when restoration began. It is here that Patrick was buried in 461 A.D. A large stone with the inscription “Pagraig” and a Celtic cross marks the site of his grave. An interdenominational service was led this day by the Bishops of Tuam and the Bishop of Down. Sister Calasanctius, OP, said “With the grace of God, all things will come with better economic outlook. I am a farmer’s daughter from Co. Kilkenny. I have no time to travel.”
“St. Patrick turns the shamrock sunny side up, so he does,” said my friend Nanna Russell who lived the Markets area of Belfast. I would visit her each Tuesday and we would take lunch across the street to the nuns of St. Malachy’s. Her son-in-law Jim became my driver all over Belfast and even got permission for me to visit the Long Kesh prison.
After the traditional shamrock ceremony at Windsor, the Queen had lunch with the guards at Victoria Barracks. The Queen Mother handed out shamrocks to the soldiers following a parade through the town. “Every regiment with any Irish connection is doing something special today,” reported the Ministry of Defense in London.
The millions of Irish in the States may enjoy a Guinness or green beer or a corned beef and cabbage supper in remembrance of St. Patrick. And they can acknowledge that the folks in Ireland are remembering, too. Erin go Braugh.