Tag: irish

Annual St. Patrick’s Day Post 2025

Well, here we are in March. Spring will be here before you know it. First though, comes one of my favorite holidays, St. Patrick’s Day. Therefore, it’s time again for the traditional St. Paddy’s Day post. This being MonDaves, there can be no better way to usher in the holiday than by sharing some of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day Dad jokes!

You asked for it, and I’m happy to oblige! Well, actually, no one asked for it and I’m pretty much doing this out of obligation, but here we are. Let’s make the most of it and have a little fun anyway. Ah sure, it’ll be grand.

Leprechaun jokes:

-What do you call a leprechaun who recycles? A wee-cycler.

-What do you call a leprechaun who goes to jail? A lepre-con.

-What do you get when you cross a leprechaun with a yellow vegetable? Lepre-corn.

-Why did the leprechaun put his money in a blender? He wanted to make liquid gold.

-What happens if a leprechaun falls into the ocean? He gets wet. Duh.

-Why do leprechauns prefer dancing to running? They’d rather jig than jog.

-What do you call a frog who jumps into a pot of gold? A leap-rechaun.

-What do you call a leprechaun prank? A saint pat-trick.

-How did the leprechaun get to the moon? In a sham-rocket.

FYI-I’m calling dibs on the name Sham-rocket for if I ever start an Irish covers/punk band.

-What does a leprechaun have for lunch? A ba-larney sandwich.

-Why did the leprechaun go outside? To sit on his Paddy-o.

St. Patrick’s Day jokes:

-What do you call an Irish spider? Paddy long legs.

-When is an Irish Potato not an Irish Potato? When it’s a French Fry.

-How can you tell if an Irishman’s having a good time? He’s Dublin over with laughter.

-What instrument does a show-off play on St. Patricks’ Day? The brag-pipes.

-Why don’t you iron four leaf clovers? Because you don’t want to press your luck.

-What do Irishmen say when you tell them Bono is your favorite singer? You too?

-How do you pay for soft drinks on St. Patrick’s Day? With soda bread.

-What’s big and purple and lies next to Ireland? Grape Britain.

-How did the Irish Jig get started? Too much beer, not enough restrooms.

And finally,

-Why did St. Patrick drive all the snakes out of Ireland? Because it was too far to walk.

Alright MonDavers, there’s your post. I think it was good for at least one chuckle, and probably several groans. You’ll probably tell at least one, though.

Anyway, now that that’s clover, sorry, I mean over, all that’s left to say is have a safe and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all that celebrate. I’ll be back soon with more nonsense. See you then!

St. Patrick’s Day Post 2024-Random Irish Stuff

St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching. This is one of my favorite holidays. I’ve got some Irish blood in me, and I adore Irish culture, art, and music year round. Keep in mind, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday observed in the Catholic church. It’s also a day reserved to celebrate Irish heritage and pride. It has become a “party day” for many (even for those with no Irish ancestry at all), but hopefully we can all remember and celebrate that there’s more to this day than dressing in green, wearing a big floppy hat or shamrock glasses, and drinking beer. By the way, if you’re going to drink a beer with some color, make sure it’s either a dark brown Guinness or maybe a nice Irish red, like Killian’s. Stay away from the green stuff-it’s inauthentic and gross. Don’t be that person.

Anyway, since the Emerald Isle will be front and center on everyone’s mind over the next week or so, I thought it might be fun to talk about some of the myths many people believe about Ireland, and perhaps set the record straight a bit. This will give you some interesting things to talk about at your St. Patrick’s day shindig. Provided, of course, you are in any shape to talk. Let’s dive in.

*St. Patrick drove all the snakes from Ireland
Well, no, not technically. Ireland is inhabitable to snakes, and there’s little or no evidence to suggest that there ever were any snakes to begin with. This story is more of an allegory about St. Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland. Trouble is, it’s not actually that cut and dried.
As near as anybody can figure, St. Patrick was born in Britain or Wales around 390 CE (common, or current, era.) His name was Maewyn, and he was captured in an Irish raid while a teenager. He spent six years in Irish imprisonment (or possibly slavery) before he escaped. Later in life he became a man of the cloth, and went back to Ireland as a missionary because he knew the language and customs and he loved the people.
So that’s where we get the story-St. Patrick drove out the “snakes”, which in this case would be the Pagans. Except he didn’t. Paganism lasted well beyond St. Patrick’s time, and is still practiced today, in Ireland and around the world. Sure, Ireland is predominately Christian now, but it took a long time for the religion to take hold.
St. Patrick may or may not have been the first Christian in Ireland, and he may or may not have used the Shamrock to explain the trinity, as the story goes. None of his writings mention this as far as I can tell. It’s possible that this idea was merely attributed to him over the years, as the stories and myths about the man grew large enough to blend with and, perhaps, overtake the truth.
Still, the patron saint of Ireland is remembered and revered for good reason in the church and beyond.

*Green is the National Color of Ireland
Nope. Ireland has no official color, but many would argue for blue, which was the first color to be used in association with St. Patrick’s Day. Blue is used on the Coat of Arms of Ireland, and the Presidential Standard, a flag flown at the presidential residence.

*The Shamrock is the national symbol of Ireland
Nope again. It’s the harp. The harp is proudly displayed on both the National Coat of Arms, and on the Guinness label. How much more official can you get?

*Ireland is full of redheads
Gonna have to burst your bubble here, but this is a stereotype. The number of redheads in Ireland is probably closer to 10% of the population than the majority that most people in other countries assume. That’s still a lot of people, but far from a majority.

*All Irish people are drunkards.
Really? Okay, so, yeah, alcohol is a large part of the culture, and many social events center around drink. That’s true of most countries, including the USA. Also, there are just, like, a lot of Irish folk songs about alcohol too. Irish pubs are widely renowned, and nearly every major city around the world has an Irish-style pub. So maybe there’s a little truth here, but it’s still a stereotype. As of 2020, studies showed that roughly 20% of the Irish population didn’t drink alcohol at all, and certainly not all who drink do so irresponsibly.

*It is illegal be drunk or swear on a Sunday in Ireland
Actually, yeah. This law was enacted in 1661, prohibiting “drunkenness, cursing, swearing, and profaning of the Lord’s Day.” Shows you how far St. Patrick’s influence got. This law was finally taken off the books in 2015, but something tells me it wasn’t taken very seriously by most people.

Well, there you go, some interesting Irish info for you. I could go on, but I need to save some stuff for next year. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, MonDavers! See you next week.