St. Patrick's Day... Musings

"I have lately made a Tour thro' Ireland and Scotland. In these Countries a small Part of the Society are Landlords, great Noblemen and Gentlemen, extreamly opulent, living in the highest Affluence and Magnificence: The Bulk of the People Tenants, extreamly poor, living in the most sordid Wretchedness in dirty Hovels of Mud and Straw, and cloathed only in Rags."
-Ben Franklin, 1771

When we toured Ireland in 2007, that is not what we saw, but it serves to remind that we usually only scratch the surface in our dealings with others.

Resident of Inis Mor, on his way to a party on Inis Meain, plus two tourists.

As you may have guessed, Finn's father's family background is Irish. They have ties to Tipperary, Wexford, Cork, Meath, and oh, so many counties. Finn himself is named after Fionn mac Cumhaill, a hunter-warrior in Irish mythology. He led the Fianna, built the Giant's Causeway, created the Isle of Man, and had two hounds named Bran and Sceolan. We are not holding our Finn up to such expectations.

Knowth, a megalithic passage tomb in County Meath.

We've been collecting children's books for Finn about Finn, as well as literature about the Fianna for the grown-ups to learn more about the history. I think it's cool that there's a story behind his name, and I guess I hope that he will, too.

Poulnabrone Dolmen, The Burren, County Clare

St. Patrick's Day is fun. I get it. Sometimes it's nice to start drinking at 11:00 in the morning on a Tuesday, but take a minute and read some Yeats, or look up a little Irish history, and look into current events. Not to kill your buzz, or anything, I mean, we have the Guinness all year round here in Castle Kittywhumpus. When we went to Ireland, The Storehouse was one of our first stops. I'm just sayin': it's fun to learn something, and the interwebs makes that oh so easy.

The Rock of Cashel, County Tipperary