This Fun Mom

I have always been a Celtophile. No, that’s not something that requires a tube of itch cream, it’s a lover of all things Celtic. I was very bummed when my 23 & Me profile came back with not one Guinness flavored drop of Irish ancestry. So now, I’m a big fan of those shirts that say “On St. Paddy’s Day, everyone’s Irish!”

I’m actually a big fan of all holiday themed shirts, hats, socks, food, fake tattoos, pretty much any holiday attire you can buy at Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Dollar tree, etc. My poor children put up with this for so many years but now at 16 and 15, they have outright rebelled save for maybe a cute pair of holiday earrings for my daughter and maybe one photo in a pair of elf ears. That I’m forbidden to share anywhere. Oh well. I’ll keep on keepin’ on with my ridiculous attire.

Back to my woefully non-Celtic bloodlines… I don’t know where it started really, but I do remember a very clear moment when a little green Leprechaun fire was lit in my heart. We were in Estes Park one September, 2012ish at their HUGE Celtic festival. This place is my Graceland… Irish (ok and Scottish too) food, beer, clothing, crafts, demonstrations, sports…. anyway, we were watching the Irish Dancers and I heard a tapping… I looked over at my four year old daughter’s feet and was joyously surprised to see her copying the dancer’s steps!

I signed her up for dancing lessons right away! She’s still dancing at 16, ranking 22nd in the western region at her last feis. (Pronounced fesh, Celtic for dance competition.)

My other favorite activities throughout the years were making a very intricate leprechaun trap cake, complete with a very labor intensive rainbow inside, making hats with orange yarn braids and beards attached, and serving green eggs for breakfast! Pouring exact amounts of seven rainbow cake layers in ROYGBIV order may have made me want me sample a pint or two, but gosh darn it if it wasn’t cute. When the kids were little, we always went to the town center’s St Paddy’s day activities and sometimes downtown for the parade. My daughter danced with her school in it a few years!

Oh and if you want to know, it’s always a friendly inside joke with us Celtophiles when we see someone say St Patty’s day… who is this Saint Patricia? It’s actually St. Paddy… Padhraic is a Gaelic version of the name Patrick which in turn came from the Latin/Roman name Patricius. Padhraic is pronounced “PAW-rick”. St. Patrick was actually British, (hence that spelling) but was kidnapped and enslaved in the fifth century by Celtic Dál Riata pirates when he was sixteen. At some point after his return home to Britain, he had a vision telling him he was to be the voice of the Irish people and teach them Christianity. He is the patron saint of protection from snake bites… the legend goes that he was attacked by snakes while on a mountain, used his staff to push them all into the sea, and that’s why Ireland has no snakes! He also built a lot of churches in his time and is the patron saint of Engineering. I love architecture, and don’t mind snakes, so that one’s more interesting to me, but my husband would probably disagree. He’s 6’4 and a blue collar badass, but a total girl about snakes!

St. Patrick’s feast day has now somehow evolved into dyeing a river green, having kegs and eggs celebrations, copious amounts of ale, and moms like me wearing shamrock leggings and emerald sequin-ed bowler hats while we’re up at 11pm putting the final touches on a leprechaun trap cake. But I digress…

Ultimately, I think what draws me to Ireland and Celtic culture is the emphasis on friends and family and how they always seem to wish one another well. “May the wind be always at your back. May the sunshine always warm your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand,” is a longtime favorite Irish blessing. And most of us have heard the short and sweet “slàinte mhath!” (SLAWN-cha-va) a toast meaning to good health! but another favorite of mine is “May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more. And nothing but happiness come through your door.”

Beannachtam na Feila Padraig! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Irish Soda Bread https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/16947/amazingly-easy-irish-soda-bread/

Rainbow-Inside Leprechaun Trap Cake https://www.pinterest.com/pin/52987733085820377/

❤️ Meagan Broeckert