IN CELEBRATION OF MY IRISH ROOTS
This web page is dedicated to my Dad
Ferdinand William Teubner
November 5, 1915 - July 26,1988
I will remember always your rendition of "Danny Boy" and "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" - I'm sure yours are smiling upon us from above. Thanks for the gift of the fae blood that runs through my veins, it is through that blood that the muse in me flows.
May the road
rise up to meet you;
May the wind be always at your back,
The sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand
St. Patrick is
the Patron Saint of Ireland. The feast day of St. Patrick, March 17, is a day to
celebrate being Irish, or to be Irish for a day!
St. Patrick is celebrated for bringing Christianity to Ireland. He was born
about 373 A.D., in either Scotland or Roman England. His real name was probably
Maewyn Succat. He was kidnapped at the age of 16 by pirates and sold into
slavery in Ireland where he remained a slave for 6 years, when God started to
speak to him in dreams and visions. A voice in one of his visions told him where
he could find a getaway ship which enabled him to escaped from Ireland and
journey to France, where he became a priest and later a bishop. After becoming a
priest he took the name of Patrick, or Patricus. Then St. Patrick had a dream,
and he dreamed that the Irish were calling him back to Ireland to tell them
about God. When he was about 60 years old, St. Patrick traveled to Ireland to
spread the Christian gospel. Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the
snakes out of Ireland -- that they all went into the sea and drowned. We do have
some writings of St. Patrick, but legend and fact are intertwined!
Facts About St. Patrick
The Legend of
The Shamrock
The trefoil or Shamrock, at one time called the "Seamroy", symbolises
the cross and blessed trinity. Before the Christian era it was a sacred
plant of the Druids of Ireland because its leaves formed a triad.
The well
known legend of the Shamrock connects it definitely to St. Patrick and his
teaching. Preaching in the open air on the doctrine of the trinity, he is said
to have illustrated the existence of the Three in One by
plucking a shamrock from the grass growing at his feet and showing it to his
congregation. The legend of the shamrock is also connected with that of the
banishment of the serpent tribe from Ireland by a tradition that snakes are
never seen on trefoil and that it is a remedy against the stings of snakes and
scorpions.
The trefoil in Arabia is called shamrakh and was sacred in Iran as an emblem of the Persian triads. The trefoil, as noted above, being a sacred plant among the Druids, and three being a mystical number in the Celtic religion as well as all others, it is probable that St. Patrick must have been aware of the significance of his illustration.
One local legend claims that an old women, saved from drowning by a king of Munster, rewarded him with a spell, that if he would kiss a stone on the castle's top, he would gain a speech that would win all to him. It is known however, when and how the word Blarney entered the English language and the dictionary. During the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Dermot McCarthy, the ruler of the castle, was required to surrender his fortress to the Queen as proof of his loyalty. He said he would be delighted to do so, but something always happened at the last moment to prevent his surrender. His excuses became so frequent and indeed so plausible that the official who had been demanding the castle in the name of the Queen became a joke at the Court. Once, when the eloquent excuses of McCarthy were repeated to the Queen, she said "Odds bodikins, more Blarney talk!" The term Blarney has thus come to mean 'the ability to influence and coax with fair words and soft speech without giving offense'.
The Blarney
Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the
Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the
gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney).
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.
Leprechaun
- Irish fairy. The name leprechaun is derived from the old Irish word luchorpan
which means "little body."
A leprechaun is a fairy taking the appearance of a miniature old man.
Leprechauns are solitary creatures and spend their time making shoes and
brogues. If you hear the sound of his hammer when he is at work you know you
have found him. If caught, he can be forced to reveal the whereabouts of his
treasure, but the captor must keep their eyes on him every second. If the
captor's eyes leave the leprechaun, just for a moment, he will vanish.
"When
Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
When Irish eyes are
smiling
Sure it's like a morning spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter,
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.
There's a tear in your eye, and I'm wondering why,
For it never should be there at all.
With such power in your smile, sure a stone you'd beguile,
So there's never a teardrop should fall.
When your sweet lilting laughter's like some fairy song,
And your eyes twinkle bright as can be,
You should laugh all the while and all other times smile,
And now smile a smile for me.
Chorus:
When Irish eyes are smiling
Sure it's like a morning spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter,
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts
are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away.
Click Below to Return to Site Index
