Happy St Patrick's Day

I have to declare my complete indifference to St Patrick the person - not even sure how real he was, especially his rep for ridding Ireland of snakes, considering how many seem to remain to this day - however I am a great fan of celebrating St Patrick's Day, the day he died, which I think of as Ireland Day.

When I was a young Catholic girl, attending a Catholic school in a poor neighbourhood in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne, St Pat's was a big deal.  There was preparation and rehearsal to march in the parade in the city.  In those days (way back in the fifties) poor kids didn't get into the city routinely.  Nor did many qualify for being in the marching group for our school group.  The nuns who taught us were "Sacred Heart" and they were used to finer things, so many had a tendency to be snobs.  The kids whose parents could afford new uniforms every year, blazers, berets, etc., and who contributed to the school funds, were the most likely to be chosen.  To be fair, marching in step wasn't really my 'thing' and I was inclined to deliberately double step and try to get others out of step too but I sure wasn't the only little devil who mucked about.  St Patrick's day was much more fun watching from the sidelines.

My real interest in St Pat's Day came when I became more political and realised the pride of having Irish ancestors on one side and French on the other, so I have been able to boast that I come from long lines of revolutionaries on both sides.  I named my son Erin after the Isle of Ireland so we always remember justice is always worth fighting for.

Happy St Patrick's Day....  Justice for Ireland!