Well, it's almost that time of year again! Not a lot of people understand that St.Patrick's day can get pretty tiresome for the Irish, so Id just like to give a little PSA on the topic.
And here to help me are my animal crossing villagers!
How many of you say that you're Irish on St.Patrick's day despite not knowing where in your family line Irish blood is found?
"But I AM Irish, my great-great-great grandmother came here from Ireland."
If that's your only connection to Ireland, it seems like a stretch. You can still love the culture and celebrate it without needing to be a part of it!
"So it's offensive to enjoy St.Patty's day?"
First of all, please never call it St.Patty's day. Paddy's day is fine. He's a man, not a beef burger.
And of course it's not offensive to enjoy St.Patrick's day! Some people just take stereotypes too far and say that anything to do with alcoholism, the colour green, or fighting is Irish.
"So we can enjoy St.Patrick's day and celebrate the Irish without it being offensive?"
Absolutely! St.Patrick's day should be enjoyed, not dreaded! Its just the difference between saying "top of the mornin to ya" to any Irish person and just being yourself!
(No one says top of the morning. Please stop saying it to us, and please stop asking us to say it for you)
"You're just gatekeeping being Irish! You can't play the victim because the Irish are white so you're not oppressed!"
Okay so - I understand where you're coming from. I'm not saying that there are specific criteria for "being Irish", just that it can be hurtful when the whole world claims to be from your country for one day of the year and then forgets about you the rest of the time. It feels like people use our heritage as an excuse for binge drinking and being violent.
And as for oppression? Sure things are better now, but Irish history is predominantly us being on the receiving end of British Colonialism. Out of the 32 counties on the Island of Ireland, 6 still belong to England after all this time (this is Northern Ireland, and is a part of the UK, separate from the Republic of Ireland)
The Irish had their rights stripped from them in their own country. They couldn't practice religion, attend school, own property above a certain (very low) value. This resulted in the Irish resorting to creating "hedge schools", where teachers and students would huddle in the woods or a ditch, and they would teach and learn what they could until a british soldier came by.
We were even forbidden from using our own language, which had a catastrophic effect on the continuation of our native language. To this day there are very few native Irish speakers. It's mandatory to learn in schools, however the curriculum is just tokenism and teaches students more about the exams they take than the language itself. (Im personally very angry about this) this results in many people nowadays hating the Irish language because of how it was taught to us.
I just scratched the surface on what it means to be from Ireland, but I digress!
Celebrate St.Patrick's Day in your own way, just please be kind and considerate to others!
And please don't pinch people for not wearing green. That's not a thing, we have no idea where the idea came from, America Please.
Giving this that “I might be only partially Irish but when I say I’m Irish I say it all year round and I’d say it while pissin on Margaret Thatcher’s grave too” boost
I have arisen from my tumblr death to say Yes. If you vibe with it all year round then absolutely!
