Today our Peep celebrates her Irishness! There is LOADS of Irish, Welsh, Manish (from the Isle of Man), Scottish and British (along with some French and Flemish) in her family tree. St. Patrick’s Day, is the feast day of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. He was actually British and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but returned about 432 to convert the Irish to Christianity. But everybody knows all about St Patrick...so we are going to talk about Irish Cats!
There are some Irish superstitions about cat’s and their ‘sixth sense’. In County Clare it was thought that to be looked at fixedly by a cat after it had washed its face was a sign of approaching marriage. To dream of a cat foretold an enemy; to dream of a dog a friend. Throughout Ireland, a purring cat or a cat with its back to the fire was a sign of rain.
Another belief is it is a sign of bad luck if a cat caught a mouse and allowed it to escape for no reason. In Limerick they believed putting a cat under a pot brought bad weather and it was apparently a common practice among sailors’ wives in order to keep their men at home.
Black cats are considered lucky! To have a black cat cross your path on New Year’s Eve, and if a black cat comes into the house on Christmas Night, you will have great luck for the coming year. Many Irish consider it lucky to have a black cat cross the road in front of them or to come upon a black cat unexpectedly.
Black cats are considered lucky! To have a black cat cross your path on New Year’s Eve, and if a black cat comes into the house on Christmas Night, you will have great luck for the coming year. Many Irish consider it lucky to have a black cat cross the road in front of them or to come upon a black cat unexpectedly.
One thing we thought was interesting in the myths is that Peeps can turn, or are turned, into cats. The goddess Clíona, turned her sister Aoibheall into a white cat because they were both in love with the same chieftain. Clíona married the chieftain, O’Keeffe, and they lived happily together for a long time. Eventually, O'Keeffe found out and demanded that Clíona restore her sister’s human shape. Unfortunately, it was too late to do anything, and in his rage, the chieftain banished Clíona from his sight!
These are just a few things about Irish Cats! Kozmo, if our Peep is Irish are we Irish?
21 comments:
happy green day to all and lots of luck
Interesting superstitions. We consider black cats to be lucky too. My maternal grandmother was Irish and my grandfather's ancestors came from Holland with William of Orange, so I consider myself 25% Irish. I inherited the Irish skin which burns very easily, and although I am not a redhead, if I allow my hair to grow past shoulder length I have a wide ginger stripe running right down the back of my head.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh agus go n-éirí an t-ádh libh na hÉireannaigh.*
*Happy St. Patrick's Day and may the luck of the Irish be with you.
we are a mix of Irish/Scottish and other assorted unknown. McCall, Hale, Urquhart, Terrell are both sides of our family names. I did not know black cats are good luck and did not believe they were bad luck, or know that cats are IRISH. ha hahahha
Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!
Those sure were interesting facts about the Irish and cats that we didn't know. Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Mom is half Irish so I guess we are too!
Kozmo and Jo Jo, thanks fur some cat history! We love St. Paddy's day fur it gittin' on to spring, sooner er later. Lynn's got da Irish, English and Scot in her plus a bunch of German. Talk about a mix up. Me I got da grey onesie that proclaims my kin to pale panthers!
dee mum izza 8 purrcent irish and she thinks all cats are majic!
They loved to fight over it, once upon a time ... did that ship that landed on Prince Edward Island and deposited all my forefathers (and mothers) originate in Ireland or Scotland? TODAY, I'll chose Ireland!!!
A most beautiful post for St. Patrick's Day. Well done.
Have a fabulous day and week. Scritches all around, a big smooch to Marvelous Marv and a big hug to mom. ♥
we enjoyed reading your very interesting and informative post. Mom says there is always something new to learn about her Irish heritage:)
Happy St Paddy's Day. May the luck of the Irish be with you.
Woos - Misty and Timber
Interesting post. I did not know a lot of this stuff. Happy St. Patrick's Day! XO
We were lucky to have two black cats.
Those were all very interesting! Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us!
Cool facts! Happy St Paddy's Day!
Java Bean: "Ayyy, Charlee has been purring on Dada's lap a lot lately, and we have also had a lot of rain lately! Coincidence?"
Charlee: "I purr on Dada's lap all the time, so of course sometimes it would rain after that."
Java Bean: "You heard it here, everyone! Charlee admits her purring made it rain!"
Our Grampa say our Mom is "A storehouse of useless information..." Mom says anything that is interesting is NEVER useless...
What a fun post full of information we did not know. Our mom is half Irish. Both her maternal grandparents were Irish. Hope you will join our Sunday Selfies again in the future. We miss seeing one of you there each week. XOCK, angels Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta & Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy, Sawyer, Kizmet, Audrey & Raleigh
Everyone is a little Irish, if they want to be. I hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!
Hope you had a lovely St Patrick's day
Those are some great facts, you guys! We hope you had a super happy St. Patrick's Day! XO
Post a Comment