Fulton County Ohio Media

Next Monday, March 17^th, is officially known as St. Patrick’s Day, where people around the world celebrate the life and good works of the Patron Saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.  Homes, schools, businesses and Catholic churches decorate their surroundings with everything green and Irish.  In America we take this day, like many of our holidays, to the extreme.  Let’s be honest.  In spite of its religious affiliation, we welcome the opportunity as another reason to drink and party, responsibly of course.  Most of us, including our non-Irish friends, pull the green out of our wardrobe and become Irish for a day.

However, in all the Irish décor, the stylish green attire and the many accessories hanging conspicuously from our outfits, there is, far too often, a glaring error on full public display.  A mistake that few even notice or understand, but a mistake none the less.  It is the spectacle of the four-leaf clover as a representation of something exclusively Irish and relative to St. Patrick himself. 

When St. Patrick came to Ireland sometime in the fifth century, he was on a mission to convert the Pagan Irish to Christianity.  As a tool to educate the native population, he used the Shamrock, a three-leaf clover, to explain the Holy Trinity.  The Shamrock then became a symbol of Irish Christianity and was embedded in Irish culture.  Somehow, over the years, the four-leaf clover found a way to crash the party.

To be fair, the four-leaf clover does have a reputation for bringing good luck.  In truth, the plant is a rare genetic mutation of the three-leaf version, occurring just once in every 10,000 plants.  So, to find one is considered “lucky.”  There is a belief that Ireland has the most four-leaf clovers than any country in the world and from that belief we get “Luck of the Irish.”  I can personally attest as a full-blooded Irishman, that “Luck of the Irish” is a complete myth.  My pile of worthless lottery tickets collected over the years with no resulting “Pot of Gold” is certainly evidence of that.

There will be a lot of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations going on this weekend prior to the actual date.  Enjoy, but don’t be fooled by those Shamrock wannabe four-leaf clovers.

Next Monday, March 17^th, is officially known as St. Patrick’s Day, where people around the world celebrate the life of the Patron Saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick.  Homes, schools, businesses and Catholic churches decorate their surroundings with everything green and Irish.  In America we take this day, like many of our holidays, to the extreme.  Let’s be honest.  In spite of its religious affiliation, we welcome the opportunity as another reason to drink and party, responsibly of course.  Most of us, including our non-Irish friends, pull the green out of our wardrobe and become Irish for a day.

However, in all the Irish décor, the stylish green attire and the many accessories hanging conspicuously from our outfits, there is, far too often, a glaring error on full public display.  A mistake that few even notice or understand, but a mistake none the less.  It is the spectacle of the four-leaf clover as a representation of something exclusively Irish and relative to St. Patrick himself. 

When St. Patrick came to Ireland sometime in the fifth century, he was on a mission to convert the Pagan Irish to Christianity.  As a tool to educate the native population, he used the Shamrock, a three-leaf clover, to explain the Holy Trinity.  The Shamrock then became a symbol of Irish Christianity and was embedded in Irish culture.  Somehow, over the years, the four-leaf clover found a way to crash the party.

To be fair, the four-leaf clover does have a reputation for bringing good luck.  In truth, the plant is a rare genetic mutation of the three-leaf version, occurring just once in every 10,000 plants.  So, to find one is considered “lucky.”  There is a belief that Ireland has the most four-leaf clovers than any country in the world and from that belief we get “Luck of the Irish.”  I can personally attest as a full-blooded Irishman, that “Luck of the Irish” is a complete myth.  My pile of worthless lottery tickets collected over the years with no resulting “Pot of Gold” is certainly evidence of that.

There will be a lot of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations going on this weekend prior to the actual date.  Enjoy, but don’t be fooled by those Shamrock wannabe four-leaf clovers.