HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

DID YOU KNOW...

The Irish flag is green, white and orange.  Green symbolizes the people of the south, and orange the north.  The white represents the peace that brought them together as a nation.  

The first St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts.  

St. Patrick was born around 385AD

The first official St. Patrick' s day parade was held in New York City in 1766.  

The harp is a symbol of Ireland.

The color of green is commonly associated with Ireland, also known as "the Emerald Isle". 

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is fourteen!

It is estimated that there are about 10,000 regular clovers for every four-leaf clover.

Legend says that each leaf of the four leaf clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.  

Happy St. Paddy's Day from the DRL Crew!

PARANORMAL PUB: A Saint Patrick's Day Story

This story truly happened a while ago in Dublin, and on Saint Patrick's Day.

John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a big storm.

The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him.

Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped.

John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door... Only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on. The car started moving slowly.

John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared out of nowhere through the window, and turned the wheel.

John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand came through the window, but never touched or harmed him.

Shortly thereafter, John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road, so, gathering strength; he jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had.

A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying... And wasn't drunk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the dark and stormy night. They, like John , were also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other....

"Look Paddy....there's the damn idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!"

THE SHAMROCKS ARE SHAKIN'

Barbara Ward-Finneran

The Irish are shaking everything they've got today and many are looking forward to kicking back some dark ale or green beer.  On this day when everyone is Irish, we celebrate one of the world's most popular saints, St. Patrick, who is the Patron Saint of Ireland.

Even the secular world embraces him like they do St. Valentine and St. Nicholas. Catholic, Christian or not - everyone loves these saints!

Saint Patrick was actually born in Scotland in the year 387. His parents were Romans living in Britian.  They were in charge of the colonies.  Around the age of 14, he was captured during raiding party and brought to Ireland, the, a land of Druids and pagans, as a slave. Patrick was forced to heard and tend sheep. During his imprisonment he learned the language and customs of the people and grew closer to God in prayer.