My seventh DIY video is up. I’m really happy with how they all came out. There were a couple of iffy moments, (the diy bow jig), but all in all, I’m really happy with them. I was especially happy with the way the shamrock stencil performed when I stamped through it. If you watch the video, you can tell I’m a little worried about how it would turn out.
That stencil has had me thinking though. Why is it a three leaf clover? Is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated with a three leaf instead of a four leaf. Let’s do some research and here it is.
Why the four-leaf clover has nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day
By The Patriot-News
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 13, 2014 at 10:26 AM, updated March 13, 2014 at 10:15 PM
Everyone likes to pretend they’re Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but I like to pretend I’m Irish all year long. It’s perhaps unsurprising, considering my given name (with the proper Gaelic spelling, mind you – none of that Anglicized “Shawn” business, thanks).
So, when a discussion arose at the PennLive office regarding the validity of the four-leaf clover as a symbol of Ireland, I was surprised to find myself making the same mistake that most people seem to make at this time of year.
To be brief: the four-leaf clover has nothing to do with Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day.
The green leafy plant we ought to be associating with St. Patrick is, of course, the shamrock, which is specifically a sprig of the clover plant with three leaves, not four.
View full sizeThis photo is of a statue of St. Patrick in Ireland.What’s the difference? For one thing, the three-leaf clover was, according to legend, what St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity of Christianity to the Irish people. Four leaves just doesn’t add up.
For a more detailed explanation, I turned to Charles “Cholly” Shields, a local attorney and expert on Ireland who has patiently pointed out the difference between the four leaf clover and the shamrock. More than just a symbol of St. Patrick, Shields says the shamrock became a national symbol of Ireland itself, just as the English use the rose, the Welsh use the leek and the Scottish the thistle.
So now I know. The shamrock isn’t a four leaf clover. Why do we all assume it is?
I’m not sure, but now I’m informed and so are you. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
CraftingForAlmostEveryone.com 