Your weekly dose of Irish ☘️🙌
Sep 23, 2022 2:07 pm
Hi there,
Here's your weekly dose of Irish for Saturday, September 23rd 2022...
Irish proverb: A craftsman’s son may grow up in ignorance of his father’s skills.
Latest updates:
- Not much to update this week. I am getting very close to finishing my top 100 Irish poems list. You can see them all here. If you are new, I have been sharing a new Irish poem every week from that top 100 list. I am not sure what I will do afterwards. Do you have a favourite Irish poem?
- Have a fantastic weekend! Watch this toilet Irish dancers video that I am sure will brighten up your day 🙂🕺🕺
This week's posts:
🕺 Toilet Irish Dancers – The Funniest Irish Video You Will Watch Today
Oh man, I love discovering funny Irish videos on YouTube.
This one came up as quite a surprise.
It is a bunch of Irish dancers doing Irish dancing but with …
The post Toilet Irish Dancers – The Funniest Irish Video You Will Watch Today appeared first on Irish Around The World.
🛣️ On Raglan Road, by Patrick Kavanagh – Famous Irish Poem And History
Every week I am getting closer and closer to finishing my top 100 Irish poems list.
I hope if you have been reading the blog since the start or from …
The post On Raglan Road, by Patrick Kavanagh – Famous Irish Poem And History appeared first on Irish Around The World.
🥚 79-Year-Old Womans ‘Miracle Cure’ Guinness And Raw Eggs
I love stories like this!
Maggie Ives was moved into a nursing home earlier this year for end-of-life care.
She was suffering from chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease.
Ives was …
The post 79-Year-Old Woman’s ‘Miracle Cure’ Guinness And Raw Eggs appeared first on Irish Around The World.
👼 20 Traditional And Unique Irish Baby Names For 2023
I recently shared this lovely poem about a newborn baby being fed and thought I would publish a post with 10 Irish baby boy and girl names for 2023.It …
The post 20 Traditional And Unique Irish Baby Names For 2023 appeared first on Irish Around The World.
👩🎤 Liam Clancy Sings A Sensational Waltzing Matilda Cover
This Waltzing Matilda cover has to be one of my favourite covers I have ever heard.
I was browsing YouTube as I usually do on Fridays when I came across …
The post Liam Clancy Sings A Sensational Waltzing Matilda Cover appeared first on Irish Around The World.
🙌Celtic Knot Meaning And The 8 Different Types Explained
Yes, there are that many variations of the Celtic knot.
But if you are thinking about a Celtic Tattoo, why not have a good understanding of the meaning so you can wow your friends who ask, “Is that a Celtic knot?
The post Celtic Knot Meaning And The 8 Different Types Explained appeared first on Irish Around The World.
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Today in Irish history, September 16th:
September 23rd
1586 - At the battle of Ardnaree in Co. Mayo, Sir Richard Bingham, governor of Connacht, surprises a force of redshanks (Scottish mercenary light infantrymen) engaged by the Burkes of Mayo; 1,000 redshanks and 1,000 camp followers are killed. Bingham hangs the leaders of the Burkes
1641 - The Gaelic Catholics of Ulster stage an uprising against the Scottish Presbyterian planters
1970 - Sir Arthur Young announces his resignation as chief constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary
1992 - The IRA destroys Belfast's forensic science laboratory with a huge bomb
2001 - Kevin Boland, who resigned from the Fianna Fáil Government during the 1970 Arms Crisis, dies after a short illness. He was the son of Gerald Boland, a 1916 veteran, a confidant of Eamon de Valera, and a long-time FF government minister; his uncle was the celebrated War of Independence hero, Harry Boland
1999 - Bob Geldof, Bono and other members of an international lobby group meet with Pope John Paul II to discuss the cancellation of third-world debt repayments
Photo credit: AP Photo/Arturo Mari
2002 - The Listowel Races in Co. Kerry begin. For the first year in its history, which dates to 1858, it will be a seven-day meeting.
Irish Joke: So there was this man in Ireland who drove trains for a living:
Many years ago, the Irish who drove trains for a living loved his job. Driving a train had been his dream ever since he was a child. He loved to make the train go as fast as possible. Unfortunately, one day he was a little too reckless and caused a crash. He made it out, but a single person died. Well, needless to say, he went to court over this incident. He was found guilty and was sentenced to death by electrocution. When the day of the execution came, he requested a single banana as his last meal. After eating the banana, he was strapped into the electric chair. The switch was flown, sparks flew, and smoke filled the air – but nothing happened. The man was perfectly fine.
Well, at the time, there was an old Irish law that said a failed execution was a sign of divine intervention, so the man was allowed to go free. Somehow, he managed to get his old job back, driving the train. Having not learned his lesson at all, he went right back to driving the train with reckless abandon. Once again, he caused a train to crash, this time killing two people. The trial went much the same as the first, resulting in a sentence of execution. For his final meal, the man requested two bananas. After eating the bananas, he was strapped into the electric chair. The switch was thrown, sparks flew, smoke filled the room – and the man was once again unharmed.
Well, this, of course, meant that he was free to go. And once again, he somehow managed to get his old job back. To what should have been the surprise of no one, he crashed yet another train and killed three people. And so he once again found himself being sentenced to death. On the day of his execution, he requested his final meal: three bananas.
“You know what? No,” said the executioner. “I’ve had it with you and your stupid bananas and walking out of here unharmed. I’m not giving you a thing to eat; we’re strapping you in and doing this now.” Well, it was against protocol, but the man was strapped into the electric chair without a last meal. The switch was pulled, sparks flew, smoke filled the room – and the man was still unharmed. The executioner was speechless.
The man looked at the executioner and said, “Oh, the bananas had nothing to do with it. I’m just a bad conductor.”
Did you enjoy this Irish joke?
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So what is this week's top Irish poem?
On Raglan Road, by Patrick Kavanagh – Famous Irish Poem And History
Every week I am getting closer and closer to finishing my top 100 Irish poems list. I hope if you have been reading the blog since the start or from right now that, you have been enjoying these poems. If you don’t know, I share a poem from this top 100 Irish poem list by the Irish times every week. This week I have selected number 5, titled “On Raglan Road”.
By the ever so descriptive Patrick Kavanagh. If I am not mistaken, I believe his Irish poems appear more on the top 100 list than any one poet. But I will have to double-check that after writing this post. His poems are jam-packed with imagery that takes you right to that moment, just like in his poems Spraying the potatoes or a Christmas childhood.
So what is the poem or, should I say, music anthem all about?
It is named after Raglan Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin. In the poem, the speaker recalls, while walking on a “quiet street,” a love affair that he had with a much younger woman. Although he knew he’d risk being hurt if he initiated a relationship, he did so anyway.
Kavanagh was 40, and the lady was a 22-year-old nurse. The relationship was short and intense, and years later, she told an RTE documentary that the age gap between them was too great to overcome.
The poem has been imprinted into Irish history through song. Most famously by The Dubiner’s frontman Luke Kelly who came together with Kavanagh to turn this into a ballad that has been sung by hundreds of famous artists from Sinead O’Connor to Van Morrison. . It is believed and reported that Luke Kelly of the Dubliners was responsible for putting the lyrics to music after meeting Kavanagh in a pub called Baileys in Dublin in the 1960s. You can also watch Luke Kelly singing this iconic song on this video at the end of this poem from 1979.
So let’s get to the incredible poem On Raglan Road, by Patrick Kavanagh.
On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion's pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay -
O I loved too much and by such and such is happiness thrown away.
I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that's known
To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say.
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay -
When the angel woos the clay he'd lose his wings at the dawn of day.
Did you enjoy this famous Irish poem?
The poem certainly is timeless, and I never get tired of hearing or reading it. Comment below and let us know your thoughts on the poem/song On Raglan Road.
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