Dirt Nap City

Who Was Saint Patrick?

• Dirt Nap City • Season 3 • Episode 44

Share episode

Beyond the shamrock lies a story of adventure, faith, and cultural transformation. Join us as we peel back the layers on St. Patrick, the man behind the legend. Was he a snake-banishing miracle worker or a shrewd political operator? How did he come to represent the country in which he was enslaved as a young man? Whether you are here for the history lesson, the funny stories about Alex in Ireland, or the green beer, you've come to the right place. Check out this episode of Dirt Nap City to learn all you can about the enigmatic Saint Patrick, the country he represents, and his annual day of celebration!

Drop us a quick text and we’ll reply in the next episode!

Support the show

Dirt Nap City is the show about interesting dead people.
Subscribe and listen to learn about people you've heard of, but don't know much about.
Someday we'll all live in Dirt Nap City, so you should probably go ahead and meet the neighbors!

Alex:

Hello everybody and the topper morning to Yeah. Kelly Day, man.

Kelly:

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I can't believe it's

Alex:

Yeah, no kidding. Are you? Are you Irish? You have

Kelly:

Yeah. Kelly Shores is kind of Irish sounding. I had fifth grade named Shannon O'Brien. Get more Irish funny enough, my grandmother doesn't see very well. And she kept telling me about this Irish quarterback that they Chiefs, Patrick mahomes. And I said, I don't know grandma. Actually, we're recording this the day before the Super Bowl. won. It's not actually St. Patrick's Day. So hopefully mahomes had some lucky charms when he won the Super Bowl.

Alex:

You haven't run the answer. You didn't answer my

Kelly:

Am I ever Irish? No. Irish. You're not nine hoody.

Alex:

I did a I did the DNA test.

Kelly:

Oh, yeah. What's what's I thought you were a Texan. I if you're ever at the quarter of Milan and Rusk?

Alex:

I'm 14%. Irish. 14%.

Kelly:

So was this 23 and me or was it?

Alex:

Yeah, and ancestry.com

Kelly:

ancestry? Okay.

Alex:

You spit into a cup? Yep. Hmm. And mostly,

Kelly:

I don't actually believe they do anything with send you back sort of a random, random thing.

Alex:

Yeah, but it couldn't be too random. Because, I mean, me or anything. Dude.

Kelly:

It's all over the internet. You're famous. Okay,

Alex:

that's true. That's true. So you think based on like, this guy's looks like he burns when he's on the slide. pasty?

Kelly:

Well, 14% Iris. So I definitely feel like you subject.

Alex:

Yeah, so I thought maybe we could abandon our current surprising each other. And as we've done on some of these St. So have we talked about St. Valentine, Valentine, and Mother Teresa. I guess Mr. Rogers wasn't a saint. I mean, but he was a Lutheran minister. So that probably Catholic saint. Yeah,

Kelly:

the pope didn't recognize it. But we do. And Yeah,

Alex:

I think that's the only ones we've done. But we tend We tend to like to talk about who these people are. It's of people you've heard about, but I guarantee nobody knows St. Patrick, this might be the oldest person that we've done anybody older than this, right?

Kelly:

Yeah, we're gonna have to get into caveman and stuff. don't get older than this Nostradamus?

Alex:

No, because that was the 1500s I think. No,

Kelly:

okay. Okay.

Alex:

I have to go look, listen to the show. Yeah, I've

Kelly:

kind of forgotten on that one. Yeah. When was when 300 480 or something? 432 is

Alex:

the best guess. Okay. Did they have of this? Yeah.

Kelly:

was, you know, like, October 4 for 32. At 6pm.

Alex:

They think it's about the fifth century is as well so old and this would be St. Patrick. We're talking about Patrick hydrometric. Sad, tragic. He's the primary saint he was never actually canonized because he lived They still consider him a saint, but he didn't have to saintly hoops that somebody like a Mother Teresa would

Kelly:

Right? Right. Yeah, he kind of grandfathered that he the grandfather. Yeah, the the O. O 's the original saint.

Alex:

So because there he was, it was such a long time ago. we're going to be talking about today are sometimes parables, or myths, or kind of supernatural tales or passed down so much. We don't know if any of this stuff has going to talk about mostly the types The things that he is kind of the legacy that he leaves. You know, he was, that he brought Christianity to Ireland. Right.

Kelly:

But But one thing that I think a lot of people debate born, right? Because I

Alex:

wasn't an English fellow wasn't. Well,

Kelly:

some say English, some say Welsh, which I guess is know. But he definitely wasn't Irish. No, no, not not even say he was born in Scotland. Right.

Alex:

Right. Right. But you know, when he was 16, he was where it's just where the Britain slave traders, right? take taken as a slave to Ireland. And you think that you wouldn't be a Irish fan. Right, right. But he went over animal herder. Right. And but he actually escaped.

Kelly:

Yeah, and I think he actually, later in life said something that he was almost glad happened, because it was had committed, you know, prior and the sin of not not being that. Yeah.

Alex:

And I think that that kind of repeats itself in the about that, if if if you don't repent, or if this doesn't gonna happen to you. A lot of those stories have to do with think he just got on a went onto a ship and then went Yeah, became a deeply religious man and became a back to Ireland to then spread Christianity to this this suffered so much. Now, I don't know how long he was. He was know. Was that a couple of years? You know?

Kelly:

Yeah, I think they I think they said it was around stayed there as a prisoner for about six years. So maybe from 20s. And then

Alex:

those formative years, when you think, yeah, be

Kelly:

And you wonder, you know, when you think of United States, we have this vision of slavery as it was horrible and brutal. I imagine getting kidnapped by experience. But you also wonder if, you know if he did Ireland during that time, because it was such an impressionable time and of his life, huh,

Alex:

yeah. Now, originally, the only thing I knew about that I had always been told as a kid, was that he was snakes in Ireland. Have you ever heard that story?

Kelly:

I have heard that story. As a matter of fact, I because he brought Christianity to Ireland, the know, as sort of a reward from God. But a lot of scientists in Ireland that it wants to ever hold of an environment swim out into the sea, you know, banished into the ocean mountains and such. But, but really, what is interesting about it, you know, in the Bible, the snake or the for evil. Right, evil people, evil thoughts, evil, evil snakes the one that tempted Adam and Eve. So if you think metaphorically, when everybody became Christian, they chased Yeah,

Alex:

that's, that's, that's a more economical story for goes that he was fasting on a mountain, right? And that the he chased them into the sea. But then there's also a story was demonic birds. Have you ever heard that story? No, no, the sea.

Kelly:

And didn't birds evolved from snakes or from this

Alex:

was a long time ago. So maybe that happened, but he the mountain, and they say that he ended his fast when the Irish. So if you're Irish and you die, you Gotta have an judges you. And so there was like this negotiation that he me judge all the Irish and also spare Ireland from all Revelation, the yeah in Revelation horrible

Kelly:

endings

Alex:

right so that was the deal that he then does fast if spare Ireland of the final, like got the final desolation anything of that. So if you're Irish, you're good.

Kelly:

Yeah, I mean, I guess maybe if we want to we want to need to move to Ireland right. Now, did you hear anything Patrick was actually not his original name.

Alex:

No, but I heard something about the to Patrick that there were to St. Patrick's love this stuff's because again, this was a long time ago. Right? What was what

Kelly:

May one sec can't. It's very unusual name. But here's supposedly comes from an I did not actually verify if this is the interwebs. Patrick is, or maybe it's potrykus. Or sort of father. Right. So Patrick is is Latin for figure can also be Latin for father figure. So that called. Patrick was, that's the Americanized version of

Alex:

Huh. And like I say, in Ireland, though, name is

Kelly:

Sure. All variations on on the original Latin roots, think about English as a Latin based language, then that you know, again, Patriarch, patriarchal, all those kinds noble. And so, yeah, that's, that's supposedly where the

Alex:

that was like his, his clerical name, his religious

Kelly:

Maybe it was kind of like his Irish name. You know, sometimes well, yeah, like a, like, Chinese or Korean people their their real name is one thing, and then they have an it was kind of like that, you know? Or, or when you call a very thick Indian accent says, Hello, this is Bob, how similar, similar kind of thing. It was the way he fit having an Irish name, because nobody's gonna want to call doesn't sound nearly as good. Yeah,

Alex:

yeah, I suppose that's true. So you think that was later on, he would knew he'd be a saint? And he would want Americans?

Kelly:

I think yes. sound better to Americans. That's everything, right. It's gotta gotta please, gotta please the USA America.

Alex:

Which wasn't a thing back then. Right, right. The that, to me, it's just all the stories that come up the like a biography of a life that you could read about, kind of interspersing these stories, like I say, that are concrete stuff about his actual kind of life, that Because I'm just full of the stories?

Kelly:

Um, well, I do know that he supposedly in this was angels, and God and had, you know, God's the one that from Ireland by boat. He was he was visited by an angel Ireland, as a teenager, he prayed a lot and he grew his voices guided him. One told him to escape Ireland, from is the one that told him to go back to Ireland and bring had enslaved him for all those years. He also supposedly about that? No. Well, in order to become a saint, and again, being grandfathered in. You have to perform miracles. miracle of feeding hungry sailors by miraculously making shore for them to eat. And then Supposedly he actually the dead. And some of them had been dead for a very long pretty intense miracles he produced.

Alex:

Yeah, I was gonna say that it's so even if we were canonization, he certainly exceeds that standard, right.

Kelly:

However, these accounts come from his own writings. So not a thing in this case.

Alex:

Wow. So you're claiming that a person could lie about Well,

Kelly:

if they were, if they were around in like, 400 ad,

Alex:

That's exactly the kind of person you wouldn't want to would lie about it.

Kelly:

But I don't see any reason to believe that he did who knows whether he told the truth or not, but he wrote refers to raising 33 different people from the debt and self feeding the hungry, much like Jesus with the loaves and

Alex:

fishes. Do you know about dirais? Have you heard So dirais was a chieftain. He liked to be in the chieftains.

Kelly:

I don't know much about him now. Okay. And they were singer?

Alex:

No, no, this is this was a long time ago. This is the dirais was a pagan chieftain, as a pagan as someone who's your religion, right.

Kelly:

I think actually, pagan was its own thing, kind of pagans worship nature, I think, yeah,

Alex:

that's what I mean by not not religious, not in the they were grounded into nature.

Kelly:

Yeah. And if you think about it, you know, if you symbolism and the symbolism of sort of that region. Before pagan, right? It was a lot of things that were almost like Sure, but when you ever you hear about

Alex:

pagans, it's usually in opposition to religion, right Yeah, we didn't like the religious part, right. So this boss. He wouldn't let St. Patrick St. Patrick wanted to hill. And the chieftain wouldn't name dirais wouldn't sudden, Gyrase horse was out there grazing on the land that and all of a sudden the horse die, racehorses die. Oh, wow. his men to go kill St. Patrick. And they're getting all of a sudden, dirais struck with illness. Alright, so. And to St. Patrick and I begged him to heal dirais with holy alright, well, I'll, I'll do this. But you know, just build that church up there. So he heals them with the holy horses and the diaries saved and then the horses come back

Kelly:

Okay, okay. So that's sort of that sort of tracks raising the debt. Just

Alex:

that whole idea of if you do this, then this will him with a bronze cauldron and gave him the hill to build the the head Church of Ireland.

Kelly:

Okay,

Alex:

but there's that whole idea of, you know, if you happen. But if you are nice to me, good things will happen. it's a similar story about crumbed of a guy named Tom sent the bowl to kill St. Patrick from Dove was a bulls to go kill St. Patrick. But the bulls upon seeing St. lets itself be eaten.

Kelly:

Wow, wow. crumbed

Alex:

have demanded that they they returned the bull. So St. to life without the meat, just the bones and the skin just life. And then one telling the story crumbed of convert, like converts to Christianity, and then the other tail crumbed of

Kelly:

So So, so there's a lot of variation,

Alex:

both Those endings I like both of those endings impressed that he's like St. Patrick are the best I'm, I'm life. And then the other story is the ball. The skin and

Kelly:

Well, first of all, what kind of a name is cool. It's

Alex:

it's a CRO de UBH. Okay. crumbed yes pronounced crumbed

Kelly:

dirais the other the other diarrhea. Yeah, da i are or the pagans. Yeah, those

Alex:

are great names from Nova and dirais. Yeah, and I

Kelly:

like chief of, of a sort of religious movement. paganism, a religious movement. I wonder if he was

Alex:

Oh, there you go. Like, like the

Kelly:

Ronnie James Dio song. Yeah, I was listening out this with some do.

Alex:

Did you ever hear the innkeeper story? No, no, this

Kelly:

is new to me as well.

Alex:

This kind of reminds me of the kind of the St. know

Kelly:

where he Yeah, like raising the kids from the around.

Alex:

i What are those guys like on patrol? When they just What does that mean? Like they just walked in? Yeah. Went this in? Yeah. Just to see how you how religious you are was pretty nasty. Not great customer service going on. stars on Yelp. Did Exactly. And St. Patrick was not And he told her that a demon was living in their cellar. dishonest or rude to her guests, the demon would get

Kelly:

Well, well, I mean, wouldn't you want? It would

Alex:

like unhealthy. Just like like maybe in his powers, he I think he ate

Kelly:

PHA tea.

Alex:

Maybe I think he used the word fatter. But the gets fatter. It's getting bigger and his powers are

Kelly:

just imagining like a Jabba the Hutt kind of demon being rude. I am growing large with food and with your hands.

Alex:

Yeah, that's true. Maybe? I don't know. But he rid of that demon in the cellar was to change our ways service oriented.

Kelly:

But that does sound like a Yelp review.

Alex:

Yeah, he didn't. He didn't probably use the word Yeah. So So later, years later, he went back to visit she had changed her way. She was serving whiskey to all the into the cellar and the demon was dying. And then upon out in a flash. And so because of this St. Patrick decrees a whiskey in his memory on St. Patrick's Day. This is called Shamrock. And in some cases on St. Patrick's Day, you flower. Yep, you put it in your whiskey or your beer or And then when you get to the Shamrock, you either swallow shoulder for good luck.

Kelly:

This is like the worm in mezcal, right?

Alex:

Exactly. Less, less. Less intense option. It's just accidentally swallow it's just like swinging a leaf. Or the Yeah, exactly. Which is much more trouble if you actually

Kelly:

yeah, that's gonna that's gonna hurt going okay. Well, interestingly, they call that drowning the interesting about that is do you know, kind of why the St. Patrick's Day. Does

Alex:

it have something to do with the three leaves in the

Kelly:

Yeah, yeah, it's supposedly that was one of St. he liked to use was the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. they are the same in one thing, and yet they're different, different parts of the same thing. So it seems religiously to put it into whiskey.

Alex:

But isn't shamrock basically clover? Yeah,

Kelly:

yeah, I think shamrock and clover the same thing

Alex:

and clover is just a weed, right?

Kelly:

Well, you don't smoke it, or anything like that. But

Alex:

it's mean it's something you would see just out in the legal and it's not like an exotic Like plant, right? Oh,

Kelly:

no, no, it's everywhere. It's everywhere.

Alex:

then there is a special Four Leaf every now and then variety, which is very rare. But you could come across a lucky, lucky, right? Irish are all about luck. You

Kelly:

know, you know, just a little bit of an aside little gonna care about, but I'll tell the story anyway, I kind kid where I could take pick a clover, or Shamrock, and I could sort of hold them together, you know, break, of them and then hold it behind the one with the three leave and the other has three leaves. And it would look like could hold it up in such a way that little sleight of hand. actually on a variety show. That was my magic trick that clover.

Alex:

But there was nothing

Kelly:

that was not my only that was a very minor thing something I actually remember. And I think I've even done it you know picked up a picked it up in such a way that it looks want to know Alex if you remember all of the because I little bit of a tangent here but the marshmallows in Lucky

Alex:

since we're talking about lucky mean.

Kelly:

Yeah, and Irish and all that.

Alex:

Pink Hearts. Yes. Yellow moons. Yes. Orange stars. Yes. missing the one before blue diamonds Greenlee yellow moons Oh, green clovers? Yes. And blue diamonds.

Kelly:

Blue Diamonds. Interestingly, there are Charms, the cereal. There are actually seven Lucky Charms bring you good luck. And they're nothing to do with ladybug. The four leaf clover, a horseshoe, a rabbit's foot. that is. The number 13 and then certain stones.

Alex:

So the 13 supposed to be lucky. Yeah. Hmm. But that has

Kelly:

Has nothing to do with this episode. So

Alex:

have you ever been to Ireland?

Kelly:

I have not. I really want to go. I've been to never been to Ireland. Have you been there?

Alex:

Yes. Yes, I was. I was lucky enough to go to Ireland four days. Yeah. And we did not leave the Dublin area at thought someday I want to come back with my wife and do all countryside. I made a point to not do any of that and just power the whole time. There was 250 pubs within walking Wow. Is a lot of drinking in that culture. There's a lot of much only three things. Get a drink. Guinness. Jameson any whiskey is like Guinness, Jameson Whiskey, and cider.

Kelly:

I was gonna say, yeah, as a matter of fact, I was preparing for this. I was looking at sort of some of the course, they're stout. Guinness is a stout, right. understand, or according to the internet, Murphy's Irish Ireland and Guinness. Now. I could be wrong. But yeah,

Alex:

I mean, I was only in Dublin. So I you might be small area of town. But it was it was there for for business for academic conference. But a friend of mine went with me. of us, basically, just tooling around getting in trouble. And we went to parts of the country where people were here. You really are rough place. You shouldn't be here. a bunch of times, but it was nonetheless it was it was fun. fights. Very good rest of folks, we've encountered

Kelly:

probably drunk, you know, like, like, you know,

Alex:

was on the edge of, you know, Boston has kind of has the edge of fighting you

Kelly:

very Irish. Yeah. Did you ever read the book? Did Angela's Ashes? No. It it is really a testament to why pissed off because it's very sad and tragic. Just these people keeps happening to them over and over again.

Alex:

but but also very funny. Like, even when things were there was always somebody with a joke. Or always somebody threatened to kick your ass. They would say it in such an want to add,

Kelly:

yeah, you'd laugh at them. And that would just You'd point and laugh and they'd go, Ah, you seem like a

Alex:

They'd say. They'd say something to you, and you'd truth? And they'd say, No, I'm just taking a piss. I was

Kelly:

piss. Is it? Is it taking a piss or taking the

Alex:

I was just taking a piss.

Kelly:

And then if you rude if you drink too much, that's,

Alex:

Yes, if you drink too much, so So

Kelly:

like here, if you ask somebody, if they're pissed, they're there. If you ask somebody, if they're pissed, Yeah. And then we're here like this, Dan pissed.

Alex:

And signals that were hand signals that weren't lot of cultural missteps. What year was this? About 2006? I

Kelly:

were a bit more of a wildcard back then I think?

Alex:

would pull up two fingers to order two beers. you've face your palm towards them, it's like giving them you want it to you have to face your back

Kelly:

to with constantly a peace sign. And people

Alex:

would be grabbing my hand and say don't do that. people were telling us not, don't do that. Don't go here. say this. It

Kelly:

actually doesn't, you're making it sound a lot

Alex:

It was just, it was a cultural landmine in a place there. Everybody basically looks like me. And I'll be went there. And it was a lot of people that look like me blinding trouble. No, it was awesome. It was a great time, just, I remember it as being constantly like saying the wrong thing. It's, it's a lot different than say, going to Cleveland. Right. You know, but, and maybe because of the I think I thought I was more Irish than 14%. Yeah. But about the Irish diaspora, right, the people around the know are where those people live? Like, do you know where I'm sure a lot of people in Boston. I mean, what about

Kelly:

I don't know. I don't know where else there are big

Alex:

they say in the UK, about 10% of the British grandparents. There was a lot of there was a lot of surprising. Yeah. About there's about 900,000 people in Ireland that were born in Ireland. But you know, there's on between those two countries. You know what they and 90s between those between England and Ireland.

Kelly:

I've heard this before but I don't remember called sounds that sounds like a pitch from satchel page.

Alex:

But this is again, when you go there everything is like they're calling this horrible war, the troubles. but it's in Limerick. So you think Oh, that's cute. But you driver told us that Limerick he was saying it was a pretty Limerick is basically if you put a dome over Limerick you Limerick and it'd be the largest jail in the world or the criminals are.

Kelly:

But I do think that I do think the English tend to that sort of chin up mental ality so they're downplay you said the troubles a very non or understated way of refer to the ocean as across the pond or, you know, so saying, it's just a pot, you know, they, they understate carry on. Yeah, certainly.

Alex:

Well, the troubles were pretty bad. In fact, they're, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in the in the UK. And in the bombs, you know, they still have, they still have family still have family feuds between like the McGillicutty it just seems so like funny or something to us. But those are like murder and bombs and a lot of a lot of bad stuff.

Kelly:

So now wasn't the was worth the troubles in Ireland it's divided into two countries, right? It's Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. Well, Northern

Alex:

Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. So it's, it's under the reign of the Queen at the time. The king, the of the United Kingdom. And then and those are, those they want to and they voted to, you know, they basically The other part, the part that we know is the Republic of Catholic part. And they want the all of Ireland to be its know, so the battle between loyalists and Republicans is fierce and, you know, it's cooled a little now.

Kelly:

Yeah, I was gonna say, hasn't that calmed down?

Alex:

I mean, that was that was 1990 98 is when they, you really hasn't been that long, you know, 25 years or so. of

Kelly:

peace. So on on the island, there are two Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Alex:

Well, really one country because Northern Ireland is

Kelly:

Oh, oh, so no, but but it's not. It's not it's not it's actually Great Britain. Yeah. I didn't actually didn't they don't have like, so it'd be it would be like Canada, or part of the United States. And it's like,

Alex:

kind of Willy. Yeah, sure. Sure. Sure.

Kelly:

I could see why it would take off the Republic

Alex:

Yeah, in fact, one of the mistakes that we did was rugby match. And we had it was cold. And my friend had bought match rom colored like the raw had like the Irish flag. And Notre Dame logo, like the Fighting Irish guy, yeah. So Irish flag. And we went into a bar. And the bar was not a even though it was in Dublin, it was apparently that's a thing to do to just like, roll up with with that. And,

Kelly:

yeah, it's like, we're in a Hillary Clinton campaign

Alex:

more like a confederate flag. But we were in what we we thought it was we didn't even know first of all, we're And people come up to us and go, Hey, are you Republican? doing are like, the scarf? What's the story with the like if you want, if you don't want trouble, you take the just things like that. Just we're just so stupid. We just

Kelly:

were they a little bit more tolerant when they heard

Alex:

Generally going from Texas, or everywhere we went,

Kelly:

And then did they sort of give you a path? Because I

Alex:

probably, I mean, we didn't ultimately get in any a lot of fights and we're not fighters were lovers. You

Kelly:

We'll say Patrick was also a lover, I think, right?

Alex:

Yeah, sure. Sure. Well, you know, the Irish rebellion 616 41 When they were the the Catholics were being what would happen was the England would send would send there to the new world of America, right? As indentured why we have a lot of Irish here. They came as indentured famine. The population of Ireland fell from like a 600,000. So like almost by like a third, between 1641 and population went down by like a third. There was a big famine, there's a lot of Americans now here because people got sent you know, 400 years ago. You know, where else there's a lot Argentina. Back they say, like 15% of the population in have big St. Patrick's Day parade and Canada, of course, are Irish. In fact, in Newfoundland, about 80% of Okay, they settled Newfoundland. They say, in the world outside of Ireland. You've been there,

Kelly:

I've been to Halifax. But is, is a little further

Alex:

yeah, in fact, the, you know, the hockey team, the to be called the Toronto St. Patrick's like in the 20s. Oh, is really

Kelly:

well, so. So you know, you were talking about the Ireland today is only 5 million people. Yeah. And so Ireland than you do in the Houston metro area. Isn't that

Alex:

It really is an entire and that excludes the two, you Right, which is probably got I don't know how many people are million maybe. Yeah, everybody else is maybe maybe bigger. I spread out right up? Yeah.

Kelly:

Well, so for St. Patrick's Day. You know, people do they drink green beer. They were green. Right. connection, as far as I could tell, was just having to do right. Ireland is a very green emerald. The Emerald Isle. the not a lot of at least from the pictures I've seen. And there a lot of trees around Dublin, or was it like more

Alex:

I mean, again, I was only in the city. But flying Beautiful, dramatic coastlines. Yeah. Very, they

Kelly:

Yep, they get a lot of rain. So everything stays that the native language is Gaelic. Is that right?

Alex:

I think officially you don't find a lot of people city. Right.

Kelly:

Right. But it's historically you know, it kind way you say or I've I've, I've learned that the way you say Gaelic is Lola panegyric, Sona duet. Logan, Podrick. Sonia

Alex:

And there are still words that like the Prime Prime Minister is called the T Shah. T shirt was spelled. Not

Kelly:

Not like Tisha. There's de SHA and Tisha,

Alex:

you mentioned the green bear. You know, you know what Patrick's Day? No, they, they make the Chicago River green. coloring and into the end the whole river. Chicago River is

Kelly:

Wow. They unhealthy? Yeah.

Alex:

And the largest St. Patrick's Day in the world is they picked March 17. St. Patrick's Day?

Kelly:

Well, because that's the day St. Patrick died and I doubt they know what they died. No, why did so. So hold minute about St. Patrick's Day. I kind of got under the an American thing. Initially with St. It was more of a And it became more of a cultural drinking celebration because there were so many Irish people here. And then rest of the world. Is that your understanding as well?

Alex:

I don't know. It's hard to it's hard to tell. I don't Right. It's not like we get the day off. Right, it's like bigger than Cinco Demayo. But not as big as like, you know, it's definitely a party. The thing about St. Patrick's Day, our calendar. It's usually kind of during spring break, March 17, because it's the middle day of spring in

Kelly:

Ah, okay, so that's more of a pagan thing.

Alex:

I'm guessing Ireland. Spring doesn't last very long, March 1 to march 30 or something? Yeah. Yeah. March the middle. I don't think spring is really that long. I celebrate this all over in Sydney Opera House is lit up that's interesting about St. Patrick's Day, is that falls so a lot of Lenten traditions. You can't drink alcohol. they Day where you're allowed to drink alcohol during St. beef. And so if you're abstaining from meat and it's like, if if it falls during Lent, when some days it some years it doesn't I think you don't have to have to

Kelly:

do not have to abstain. Interesting. I actually heard this year, which will have already passed when this Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day.

Alex:

Oh, it did you mean Yeah. Already did?

Kelly:

Yeah. It already did. A month ago fell fell on fell on lover a little ash heart?

Alex:

Or shamrock shake? Did you know those are good. By shamrock shake now where do you get him? to McDonald's? Excellent.

Kelly:

I gotta try it.

Alex:

I think you're onto something though, with that holiday. In fact, it's customary for the Irish Prime tea shop to meet with the US president either on or around Did you know that that's like a tradition. I did not know goes there or they come here. But it's a very special that it must mean more a lot to us in that the Prime time with the president for there. In fact, the tradition Ireland will present our president with a Waterford shamrocks. And this happens, I think it happened started with know Bill Clinton was doing it? I don't know. The last few But that's that's kind of the the tradition. Of course, St. bit of a bad rap these days because of the kind of drunkenness, and kind of dressing like a leprechaun and tacky.

Kelly:

Pinching people

Alex:

who yeah, forgot about that one. That's definitely

Kelly:

It if they're not wearing green, they asked for

Alex:

that's true. Some people say it demeans Irish, the some harmful effects of perpetuating Irish stereotype aren't to be taken seriously, or just drunks or whatever. Ireland, but I will say that I didn't see the drunkenness as mean, people I think can they can handle their alcohol, but fools. I mean, they're always taking a piss. And they're see the amount of public drunkenness that I would see Austin or Houston or something. But I think that's they're drinking is a part of their culture, but think they like a lot of European countries. Yeah,

Kelly:

yeah. It's kind of if you grow up with it, I guess, You can't really do it to his access, or you don't feel it. oversimplify people's relationships with alcohol, their culture. And they, like you said they try to keep it it frequently. You

Alex:

know, what else I noticed was the role of the be very different than the one here the bartenders now Hear, problems and not there to just like, shoot the breeze with stocking things and cutting things and just very to really take your order. And then once that's done, they But you're not just hanging out with the bartender, that's couple of times I tried to strike up a conversation, and like, I'm not here to talk to you.

Kelly:

I'm not I'm not going to answer your questions, scarf. You know, what's ironic about that? What's ironic the hit television show cheers was supposed to be an Irish that's all the, that's all the bartenders did was talk to

Alex:

customers, you know. The other thing was the rugby well is that people did not move during that game, they and down, like you see in American sports. Once it was emptied, and everyone went to go get a shot of whiskey, and to their seats. And the whiskey. They just had a tent was like, I think it was like one euro or five euros. But it where you just give them like a no change being made no efficient. And if there was probably 20,000 People at that and back in and had like a shot of whiskey and it was something like that. So it was cold. And it was it was just I efficient it was. And compare it to American sports where the stands. Were everyone's always getting up to get a paying attention to the game. I really liked that. I thought

Kelly:

So so the drink of choice at a rugby match was

Alex:

Yeah, could probably because it was cold. It was both there was a Jameson tent. And then there was like a have been cider also being poured was there

Kelly:

was there a clover tent where you put your shamrock

Alex:

so like, efficient. And there were no seats, like railing that I remember. And you weren't, you weren't place to sit, you just stand on the railing. And you know, minutes, and then you'd have halftime and you stand for you go out to the pub.

Kelly:

Sounds like a good time. Well, you've added to

Alex:

Oh man, Dublin is is a good time. But like I said, clock think that was placed was called the clock, the pub were telling me we and then and the guy says what's the mean? What's the story? And apparently that's like how you I'm like, What do you mean? What's the story?

Kelly:

You said? What's my story? You said? An American walk into a pub, man.

Alex:

And it's it is it is rough. Yeah. Is different don't know if Rick Steves can prepare you for what?

Kelly:

WWE RSD what would Rick Steves do

Alex:

alright man Well, hopefully, people learned a because that's exactly what we gave them a little bit.

Kelly:

A little bit of St. Patrick's a lot of Ireland.

Alex:

you know what? There's not a lot about St. Patrick guessing and a few a few miracles. Sprinkle. He

Kelly:

was a wee ethical lad. Paint. He was actually he was

Alex:

all right, man. You got anything else?

Kelly:

That's all I got.

Alex:

All right. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody. The Shamrock

Kelly:

gild the lily.

Unknown:

Oh, I woke me up this morning and I heard a giant happy Irishman. 100,000 strong. It was the Hibernian stop the big parade. So I grabbed the hatchet man power day and I want to tilted on the side the good old Irish waiver and the green flag in the same time shoe you've day on the I agree. It's a great day all repair. The articulate Blarney you think at all New York was killed the Shamrock all the flags in full array. We have feelin so Irish. It's a great, great day.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Alex Milam

Host
Head Shot

Kelly Shores

Host