They is?
Shamrock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quote:
The name
shamrock comes from Irish
seamróg, which is the diminutive of the Irish word for clover (
seamair) and means simply
"little clover" or
"young clover"
The
shamrock is a three-leaved clover; the plant was used by Saint Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity when he attempted to convert the Irish to Christianity. It has subsequently become a national symbol of Ireland. The word comes from
seamróg, the Irish name for the plant.
A
four leaf clover refers to an aberration of a three leaf clover plant, “white clover.” The white clover is a deep green flowering vine with white blossoms. It is the original
shamrock plant of Ireland and the unofficial state symbol. The shamrock already has powerful associations, and its occasional production of an extra leaf makes the rare four leaf clover especially lucky.
Patrick was a Welshman!
As a matter of fact "Patrick" or "Patrician" was his rank in the Roman-Briton society, not his name.
Perhaps, today is really "Taffy Day" eh?
Well, he wasn't really Welsh, as Wales didn't exist at the time. He was born Maewyn Succat somewhere in the Roman province of Britannia around 387AD. Calpurnius, his father, was a deacon, his grandfather Potitus a priest, from Banna Venta Berniae, a location otherwise unknown, though identified in one tradition as Glannoventa, modern Ravenglass in Cumbria.
In England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, only Wales's patron saint is non-foreign.
St Patrick was Romano-British; England's St George (with St George's Day celebrated on 23rd April), was born in Lydda in Roman Palestine in around 275AD; and Scotland's St Andrew (with St Andrew's Day being celebrated on 30th November) was born in Judea in the early 1st Century.
Wales's St David - with St David's Day being celebrated on 1st March - was born in what is now Caerfai, Pembrokeshire, south west Wales, in around 500AD.
