These photos show a Church festival in Alexandria Virginia at the Saint Louis Church in the spring of 1956. Church festivals have been a practice of the church for centuries, but sadly dying out. These are included here as samples of what a church festival or fair looked like and to explore what a Saint Patricks Day celebration might look like. (For more on Saint Louis Church please click this link: https://saintlouisparish.org.)

 

Patrick the patron saint of Ireland, deserves some time on his day for reflection. He appears to have been abducted by Irish raiders as a boy and served as a herdsman for them for several years before escaping. Making his way home to Britain he chose to become a priest and eventually made his way back to Ireland where he taught and worked miracles throughout the Island. He is believed to have also visited Scotland and Wales among other places. His deeds and miracles are reputed to include: banishing snakes from Ireland, fasting for forty days and driving evil spirits from the island with a bell, building churches and monasteries, and giving the cross and motto to some of the leading families in Ireland. The O’Donnell legend claims that they were involved in bringing the boy over as part of the raiding party and that later Patrick blessed the head of the clan; drew a cross on his shield and told him in this sign you will conquer.

 

While there is much being debated academically about Patrick the fact remains that he is known all over the world as the Bishop, Saint, and Apostle of Ireland. Churches are named for him in England, Scotland, Wales, Canada, The United States, and even some non-English speaking countries. He is celebrated by both the Roman and Greek Churches, and even the Anglicans acknowledge him as a saint.

One of the few customs used in the celebration is the Shamrock. The shamrock is connected to Saint Patrick and his attempts to teach the Irish of the Trinity. He used the shamrock plant because it has one stem but three leaves. In the same way that these three leaves are one at the stem so is the trinity one.

However, despite all of these things, the celebration of Saint Patrick's day tends to be a celebration less of the saint and more of Irish heritage and even some Irish nationalism. In much of the world, the celebrations are carried on by descendants (and some of these are only one generation removed) of the Irish rebels and nationalists who were in a state of exile from their homeland. Many of the traditions have little to do with Patrick and far more to do with Ireland and the complicated nature of her relationship with the British Empire.

For instance, let us consider the wearing of green. In the late 1700s Irish groups advocating for a free Ireland had adopted the wearing of green in the forms of clothes, plants, badges, and more. In 1798 after a revolt the British government banned the wearing of green apparel and the use of the shamrock for such activities. As a result the song “The Wearing of The Green” appeared on the streets. Lamenting that “…Saint Patrick’s day no more we’ll keep, his color can’t be seen; for there’s a bloody law against the wearing of the Green…” It should be noted here that Saint Patrick's favorite color is usually represented as the blue of the skies.

Another example of Ireland rather than the saint is the prevalence of the little people or leprechauns. A leftover of the pagan past of Ireland that still holds on. At least the leprechauns are fun to think about some of the other legends that hold on are frightening. One might view Walt Disney’s Film “Darby O’Gill and the Little People” for reference to some of them. For a more comic look at the little people Tommy Steele’s performance in “Finian’s Rainbow”.

It was hard for the Irish when they found themselves in cities and countries where they were not wanted to find work. The famous sign “Irish need not apply” drove some into poverty and drunkenness. Those who persevered and worked through it had comfort in the shared heritage and celebrations of their fellow exiles. Over time some of them became great men and played important roles in the history and development of the nation. For instance John Barry of Philadelphia (he has or at least had when last I visited) a statue outside Independence Hall. An Irish merchant who helped to found the U.S. Navy. At the battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia the Irish fought on both sides In the bitter winter battle of December 1862 some Irish troops fought for the south at Marye’s Heights; in the assault from the Union came the Irish Brigade. This was made up of regiments from New York (69th, 83rd, 88th), Boston Massachusetts (28th), and Pennsylvania (116th). The Brigade fought in every major campaign in some form, from the First Battle at Bull Run (or Manassas) to Appomattox Court House. Several men won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Some of those regiments are still active i.e. the 69th New York which has served in both world wars and other conflicts since.

We have had Presidents (Kennedy) and congressional leaders (O’Neill). There is scarcely a locality that does not bear the mark of Ireland in some form; while there were some Irish who were troublemakers there were far more who served and helped to build the nation. They served in the cavalry posts that kept the telegraph lines working from coast to coast. They pursued bandits and hostile Indians to keep the peace, there is room for discussion about the propriety of the terms here but it goes beyond the scope of this work. They provided labor for the transcontinental railroad and built the skyscrapers of New York.

 

So this year let's celebrate the Apostle of Ireland Saint Patrick a man who wanted to build a better world. And let us celebrate the results that have been seen around the world from the children of his flock. So what if the celebration has gotten more Irish and less religious that just means that more of us can participate and enjoy it.

(In the interest of full disclosure, the writer is descended from Irish immigrants who arrived near the end of the “Irish Need Not Apply” era. Some of them served in the Army and Navy during both World Wars. Please note the writer is not Catholic so any errors in theology should be taken as ignorance, rather than disrespect.)

Setting the scene we find a boisterous group of men gathered in a tavern and debating. The location is lit with tallow candles and filled with tobacco smoke. The men gathered here are in uniforms similar though not identical. They speak in an early form of American English rather than Kings English. As we listen we hear that the debate we hear that they are angry about their pay being delayed and possibly not being paid. There are plotting a coup a march against the federal government to force them to act or to remove them from power.

Into this chaos the door opens; a man enters and the room goes silent as the impeccably dressed General strides to the front of the room. He is dignified and does not rush he removes his hat and cloak and places some papers on the table. He looks around the room catching every eye. He then begins to speak somewhat haltingly; he reaches into another pocket and removes a pair of reading glasses. Then looks around again and says: “Forgive me gentlemen I have lost some of my sight in the service of my country.” 

Who is this man who ends a revolution before it even begins? None other than George Washington.  

February 12 is the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln who was our first frontier president and was mostly self-taught. Lincoln was educated mostly by reading Shakespeare and the Bible and a set of books he acquired in a trade. Through these books, he learned what the world was like beyond the horizons. The rail splitter president received some rudimentary education from reading from the classics and studying law between the labors necessary to make a living. His words display both a degree of familiarity with the wisdom of preceding generations mixed with the current common sense of the frontier log cabin-dwelling farmer. During his life, he fought three wars; The American Civil War between North and South, the near war between East and West, and the war of racial prejudice. The first war he won ended at Appomattox Courthouse, the second war he won laid the foundation for preventing future conflicts, and the third war he won was a personal victory because he was unable to win it for everyone (it must be won individually).

Abraham Lincoln is best remembered for fighting the Civil War and for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Often forgotten are the Lincoln Douglas Debates, and his involvement in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. His greatest achievement given the prejudices of his time is his ability to treat the liberated slaves he met as equals; Frederick Douglass always remembered that Lincoln treated him as he did every other man, shaking hands and conversing as equals.

In the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, we see the idea presented by Lincoln that all me are men regardless of color. He concludes that treating any man as livestock is completely inappropriate. He also points out that one puts a leash on a dog but not a man, one hitches a horse to a cart but not a man, etc, this is because a man is a different kind of creature.  He then challenges Douglas to defend the practice of slavery. This idea led to a misunderstanding; that the Republican Party would seek to bring about an immediate end to slavery. Rather they had in mind putting the nation on a path to exterminate the practice by finding better ways to achieve the nation’s economic needs.  The emotions that charged the issue however led to an impasse that created a separate and distinct culture and nearly a different nation between north and south. Issues of federalism and state autonomy were used to defend and attack by both sides and the entire issue had by the 1840s become a nearly religious belief for both sides. In the decade before the election of Lincoln there had been violence and killing in several areas over the issue and war was on the horizon.

Lincoln had for nearly three decades been in touch with Grenville Dodge who had proposed the route along the Platte River for a transcontinental railroad to connect east and west. Among the reasons that Dodge advanced for these routes were the pioneer trails, Both Oregon and the Mormon trails used the Platte River for the easy grade that led up to the foothills of the great divide. The chief reason for the building of a railroad was to connect east and west and prevent the cultural war threatening to become an actual war between north and south. When congress finally approved funding and federal assistance for the railroad Lincoln told members of Both the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific that one of his dreams was to see the entire country from the new railroad, some sources indicate he even wanted to learn to operate a locomotive.

One often unheard story tells how in the winter after the December 1862 battle at Fredericksburg Virginia; President Lincoln took his son Tad along to inspect the army. Tad wanted to see a rebel so they took a flag of truce and yelled a conversation across the Rappahannock River, between the President and a Confederate officer.

Another is the Presidential visit to the forts which surround Washington D.C. to protect it from southern attacks. On this particular day, Confederate General Jubal Early attacked the forts in the area where Lincoln was inspecting. During the battle, the president climbed up on the parapet to see the battle. Picture this for just a moment the president in his top hat standing on the wall of a fort with bullets and cannon balls flying around him. A soldier grabbed him and threw him down saying: “Get down you damn fool what do want to get killed for!” Lincoln is reported to have laughed off the incident.

In 1865 with peace arriving and his goals looking possible Lincoln went to Ford’s Theater and saw the play Our American Cousin during the play he was shot by an actor named John Wilkes Booth. Sadly he did not live to see the fruits of his labors in the reconstruction, the railroad, or the integration of racial equality.

We see his legacy today in the monuments to the man who fasted and prayed for the end of the war, wept for the slain of both sides, and tried to make one nation out of two very different cultures. Who tried to meld black and white into one nation and sought to bring peace and liberty to all. We should honor him and remember his legacy.

Also, this week is Valentine's day which the gentlemen reading should remember, although the origins are somewhat murky. There are as far as I could find two saints named Valentine both lived at about the same time. The two most prominent legends may be eighteenth or nineteenth-century additions they are: 1) that Valentine healed the jailer's blind daughter and sent her the first notes signed by your Valentine. And 2) That Valentine was a Bishop who wore a ring displaying the cupid and an amethyst stone which allowed couples to recognize him as Valentine the Christian Bishop who would marry them.

Unfortunately, neither account can be authenticated before the 1700s; when the day began to change from being a religious memorial to being a day dedicated to romance. My best advice is to enjoy your favorite and not worry about which is the oldest etc.

Last we have some trivia questions:

1.) Can you name the first Union Army General to state that Black men should be allowed to serve in the Army and to provide them with arms and training?

2.) How many children did the Lincolns have and how many lived to adulthood ( consider giving yourself a bonus if you know their names)?

3.) What do these individuals all have in common: Winfield Scott Hancock, Frederick Douglass, Teller (of Penn and Teller), and Jack Benny?

4.) What do this group have in common (note not the same as the previous question): John Dickinson, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Frederick Lowe?

Answers to be posted Soon!