Friday, March 16, 2012

I'm an Irish Wanna-Be

It's true.

I'm pretty sure my jealousy of those who are Irish began in the third grade.

That year, Tisha McCarthy (the red-haired, only-child who got to have a tent set up in her basement) smugly proclaimed that she didn't have to wear green on St. Patrick's Day, because she was Irish.  Italian is my dominant heritage, and it wasn't nearly cool enough.

Italian's don't have a party that lasts an entire day.  We do have the mob, but it's not quite the same.

Later on in life, I read a fictional book about St. Patrick, the Tuatha de Danann, and a prominent rainbow (I think it was the rainbow that connected the faerie world and the real world, but it's been about twenty-five years since I read the book, so I can't say for sure.)

St. Patrick (although in the book he was known as only Patrick) got involved with the Queen of the Tuatha de Danann, and it was quite romantic to my early teenage heart.  The descriptions were vivid and beautiful, and so I became even more enamored with Ireland.

A quick note about the landscape of Ireland.  You have to understand that where I grew up (and currently live), it is brown for nine months of the year.  We have three months of green, and then everything dies off because of lack of water.  The plains are beautiful in their own way, but the pictures of Ireland are breathtaking, full of moisture and life, and as different to my reality as any fantasy world out there.

In the early nineties, the movies the Commitments and The Full Monty came out.  My sister loved The Commitments, and The Full Monty is still one of my favorite movies.  I think we related to the quirky humor in the movies, and the fight of the underdog to change their place in life.  Once again, there were cool accents, bold characters, great music, and fun stories - all set in Ireland.

Last year, a dream finally came true.  Growing up, my Grandmother (the Italian one) told me that I had Irish in my Grandfather's lineage.  I thought  she was wrong, and that it was Scottish, because the lineage is connected to Scotland.  Last year, at the Scottish-Irish Highlands Festival, I finally got it all figured out.  I was informed that my paternal last name comes from the Ayr region of Scotland, was part of the Kennedy Clan, and that the Kennedy Clan moved back and forth across the straight into Ireland.

I very well could be Irish!

Well, just a little bit, but still!

Do I still have to wear green on St. Patrick's Day?

48 comments:

  1. Oh, I love the Full Monty. Such a fun movie!!

    And I'm so glad your dream came true. Happy Saint Paddy's Day...

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    1. Happy St. Paddy's Day to you as well, and thanks for stopping by!

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  2. If you are Italian you can wear what ever you want!

    Happy St. Pat's

    Cranky Old Man

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    1. You make me laugh! Thanks, Joe! Happy St. Pat's to you, too.

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  3. aww. sweet story w/ a happy ending!

    and Leap Year was a very cute movie with lots of Irish landscape!

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    1. Thanks! I'll have to check out Leap Year - I don't think I've heard of it. How'd that get by me!

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  4. Dang - I forgot to keep it to 333 words! Thanks for reading it all :P

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  5. That's the beauty of being adopted. I can claim to be anything I want. Although I would probably have a hard time convincing people I'm Italian, with my pale skin and reddish hair.

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    1. Aren't I kind of pale :) I'm a quarter Italian, have blue eyes and I glow in the dark! And my great-grandfather that immigrated from Italy had red hair - so you can be anything you want!

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  6. Yes! Wear green on St. Patrick's day! I have a pin I wear every year :) So cool that you do have a bit of Irish after all! Have a great, green day ;)

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    1. Thanks Hope! You have a great, green day, too! Did the Leprechauns visit your house yet?

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  7. Wow! You have quite the history! How fabulous... And jealous you LIVE there... Wow...

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    1. Oh, I'm sorry if I misled! I don't live in Ireland - I wish I did - but I live in the dry, dusty west of the US.

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  8. My mom is fond of saying that everyone has a little bit of Irish in them (usually celebrated only once a year on March 17!). And now you have some history to back that up. You're official- wear green only if you want to!

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  9. Well, unless you don't want to get pinch, yes. You must wear green. Just so you know, Italians rock, too. Have a MG character of such heritage. It'll be awesome!

    Happy St. Paddy's Day! :)

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    1. I'm pretty proud of my Italian. My father looks like he could be part of the mob. Well, he did when he was younger. :) You know, though, the grass is always greener...

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  10. For fun! I'd love to have Italian and Irish! That would be awesome! And you're right - Ireland is absolutely beautiful. You've got to love a place that is so green!

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    1. The countryside just looks so beautiful. I don't know many people itching to come see the prairie, for sure.

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  11. I always where green and orange because i am both Irish and Scottish though both ethnic surnames have been lost.

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    1. I had a hard time changing my name when I got married. I really liked the Scotch/Irish name I had. It was a lot easier to spell, too!

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  12. I'd say you're good! Great post :-)

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  13. I hate to point this out but The Full Monty is set in Sheffield in England and not Ireland.

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    1. Yeah - you're right. Once I read Sheffield, I remember the little intro part. How embarrassing. :P

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  14. It counts! You're a mutt like me. lol Happy St Patricks Day!

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  15. Thanks, Miranda! And thanks for following!

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  16. Congrats on your Irish heritage! Love your story.

    Visiting from Mark's blog.

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  17. I wear green! And YAY being Irish!! I just assume almost everyone is Irish. I took Irish history and now I'm in Scottish history...they are both close, brave, and very noble heritages.

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    1. I think that's why I love both. There's something romantic about the struggles and hardships both heritages have gone through.

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  18. I loved this story. You go tell that kid from the third grade that you have finally traced your lineage and that you are indeed Irish and do not have to wear green. If by chance you were misinformed or the little brat tells you that you don't have enough Irish blood to qualify for the exemption then it might be time to whip out the mob remark. Maybe that will scare her away, lol. Hope you are having a lovely St. Paddy's day.

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    1. Thanks! I guess being Italian does have it's pay offs! ;)

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  19. I think I know where you're coming from, Lara. I have a thing for Norway.

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    1. Some places just call to us, I guess. I love the picture on your blog... I've got some Norwegian, too! Like Miranda said, I'm a Mutt.

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    2. Thanks P-) Yeah, I'm pretty pleased with how that picture turned out. Gray clouds in the mountains just always look cool.

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    3. Do you have more cool pictures like that?

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    4. That's one of the best ones, but I have lots of photos. I still need to put more of them up on my Facebook writer page, but my personal page has some.

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    5. Of course you can =) I just sent a request.

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  20. Beautiful photos! I wore, um, purple yesterday on St. Patricks Day. Nobody pinched me! I have a touch of Irish in me through an ancestor named Sara Teresa DeLacey who was born in Ireland. When I did research for my historical romance set in 12th century Ireland (still unpublished) I discovered DeLacy is a French name. Back then, that area of France was recognized as Normandy. The Normans invaded Ireland around the time my books is set, so I assume that since my ancestress' name was DeLacy, probably there is some French floating around in my heritage. Anyway, the lovely singing group, "Celtic Woman," mentioned Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a much more vibrant fashion than the Irish; coloring rivers green and such. So we can all be Irish for a day! I, too, am proud to me a mutt, Lara.

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    1. Yeah - it all runs together, eventually, especially living in the big "Melting Pot" It makes life interesting, I guess!

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  21. I thought everyone was Irish on St. Patrick's Day?

    When I was about 17, I said to one of my friends (in the presence of my Mom) "I don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day because it's stupid, and anyway, I'm not Irish."

    And my mom said "I think your Great Grandma Irene McDermott would say otherwise."

    So I wear green if I think of it.

    RE: The Commitments: I loved the Hothouse Flowers; didn't they do the music for that movie? And I loved "The Secret of Roan Inish," which I think was Irish-y.

    Anyway, great post. I stopped by here to say that you WON! You won the Weekly Drawing for The Great 100 day 100 question Star Wars Blogathon and you have, like, a ZILLION (well, four) books coming to you. Details here:

    http://www.troublewithroy.com/2012/03/100-day-100-question-great-star-wars_18.html

    This is the part where I wrap up with a witty comment or pithy saying, but I've got nothing. And I'm pretty sure that my twin boys are racing to see who can flush the cell phone down the toilet first, so I'd better go.

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  22. That's super-exciting! I'm not sure how I won, but I'll come over to get me prizes! Yay!

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  23. Hey Lara,

    Just now catching up with all the awesome posts for the Blog O'hop:)

    Thanks so much for the support and hope you had fun on St. Paddy's Day :)

    PS. The Committments absolutely ROCKS and *is* one of the funniest movies evah :)

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    1. I agree about the Committments! I recently found it on DVD, again. We had a VHS copy, but then you know what happened to VHS. Come to think of it, the Full Monty was part of the package deal - that might be why I put it into the Ireland mix.

      The hop was so fun - thanks for the great idea! I loved hearing everyone's stories, and getting to see everyone's pictures, too!

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  24. I love the Full Monty, too. I have it on DVD. I'm not very Irish either. Lots of English & Welsh in the lines though. That photo is breathtakingly green. I live in the desert now, so get a sage colored green.

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  25. I love that picture - it looks like something out of a fantasy novel!

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