A time sit and reflect on the color green-- a holiday and color representative of the dominant Catholic presence in Ireland, which for centuries has caused unrest, civil strife, and economic stagnation within a divided yet promising nation. Oh wait. Lepruchans. Pot of gold. Rainbows. Blarney Stone. Shamrocks. Beer. Pay no attention to the civil unrest. All is well.
Geez, way to kill the mood, David. Sorry. Actually, I am quite fond of this holiday to the patron saint.
Look at it this way. If Ireland wasn't so messed up, millions of Irish immigrants wouldn't have flooded the United States, forever changing our own cultural landscape. My family wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here.
Andrew Jesse Hopkins, originally from the town of Frenchpark in Roscommon county. There's an English Hopkins, but we're not them. At some point, before coming to Ellis Island, the spelling may have actually been "Habbagan" but we don't know for sure.
So in honor of Andrew, I watch Boondock Saints, listen to House of Pain and Flogging Molly, and sing the songs to my daughter.
Wipe the golden tear from your mother dear, and raise what's left of the flag for me
Happy Saint Patrick's!
