Irishness

Why is it that Americans are a little obsessed with Irishness?  It's true that there are many Americans with Irish ancestry.  We learned while in Ireland that approximately 2 million Irish folks emigrated (many to the U.S.) during the Irish Potato Famine (including my great-great grandparents). But St. Patrick's Day's is hugely popular, not just for those with Irish ancestry.   I'm not sure many people even think about St. Patrick on St. Patrick's Day.  I think Americans appreciate the Irish spirit - their spunk, their wit, and their love of a good "spirited" celebration.  I mean, these are folks who commemorate loved ones' deaths, not just with solemn reception lines at funeral homes, but with beer and toasts to the deceased.  Guinness, anyone?

I've always enjoyed Ireland for its incredibly green beauty, in addition to how friendly and entertaining its people are.  It's a place that doesn't take itself too seriously, and I appreciate that.

It's Irish Fest in Milwaukee this weekend.  If you're not familiar with Milwaukee festivals - there's a large festival grounds right on Lake Michigan, where they host not just Summerfest (a huge music festival each June-July), but various ethnic festivals, including Irish Fest, Festa Italiana, Bastille Days, Mexican Fiesta, German Fest, Indian Summer, etc. 

Since 2 weeks is a long time for us to be away from all things Irish, we decided to go to Irish Fest last night, to get a fix.  I'm quite certain I've never seen so many people wearing green in one place before.  Nor have I ever seen quite so many men in kilts (and we've had family weddings where the wedding party wears kilts).  No, I didn't ask any of them the question going through your minds right now.  Don't ask if you don't want to know.  There were many music stages with various styles of Irish music and dancing.  There were restaurants serving shepherd's pie, Irish nachos, reuben rolls (think egg roll with reuben filling - mmm), sausage rolls, lamb stew, and every kind of Irish beverage you can imagine.  They had Irish games for the kids, a leprechaun village, and a separate tiny turnstyle for leprechauns to enter by (see the picture at the top).  The Irish parade was entertaining, and it featured a couple Scottish bagpipe bands, so I got to experience that part of my ancestry as well.

We met Liam Lynch, a real-life "super-sized" American leprechaun (his words), who initiated Sierra and Scarlett into the Leprechaun Society with a way-too-long oath and secret handshake.  When Liam heard we'd just been in Killarney, he told us tales of his last time there, when he made it to all 11 pubs in 1 night and had a pint in each.  It took him 2.5 hours to walk back to his B&B, which was 20 minutes away.  He said that unfortunately, there weren't any "lepre-cans" on the way back, so he figured that's what all the stone fences were for.  Gotta love the Irish.

It was a fun way to spend an evening.  I'm quite certain not all those present were Irish (including my English/Czech husband).  But for that one night (in addition to St. Patrick's Day), we were all Irish, celebrating the gifts of family, music, storytelling, celebration, and joy.