Dia
Duit, Cairde (Good Day, Friends),
Before
I get started, I would like to pay tribute to a wonderful
person who is no longer with us. This issue of
our newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Terry's
brother, James F. Reynolds. Two months ago, we received
the sad
news that Jimmy had been diagnosed with an advanced form
of cancer. He passed away at home on March 28th at the
age of 66. Jimmy was a very special person and was a
friend
to everyone he met. Always happy and smiling, you would
never hear him say an unkind word about anyone. Jimmy
will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
I
hope that you all had a Happy St. Patrick's Day and Easter.
Here, at LittleShamrocks.com, we have been
very busy adding
all kinds of new things to the web site. For your
shopping pleasure, we have added several more affiliates
to
our store. We have published the first two issues
of 'The
Leitrim Connection' by Gerry Bohan, which consists
of current events
in and about County Leitrim. We have also added a
page where you can contribute
your own Ireland travel story to the web site. I have written a series of articles
about Irish topics, including places of interest,
Irish history,
traditional Irish customs and even some legends from
Irish mythology. I hope you will enjoy reading them
as much as
I did while researching.
The
topic with the most interest has been about ancient Irish
wedding customs. Some of the customs are still
practiced today by many nationalities, even though
they are believed
to have origins in Ireland. For example, 'tying
the knot' comes from the Irish tradition called 'handfasting'.
Each party holds the hands of the other, right
hand
to
right
hand, left hand to left, with their wrists crossed.
A ribbon is wound around the wrists, over the top
of one
and under
and around the other, creating the infinity symbol.
'Honeymoon'
is also derived from an Irish custom. The Irish translation
for honeymoon is 'mi na meala'
or
'the month
of honey'. An old Irish custom was for the newlyweds
to spend a month together drinking honey wine
and, by the
end of the month, the bride was usually expecting.
Honey wine, known as mead, was consumed at weddings
because
it was thought that it promoted virility.
One
last interesting note has to do with the last line of
a little jingle for the bride that
I'm
sure you
all have heard. I knew most of this jingle
but had never
heard the last line before: 'Something old,
something new, something
borrowed, something blue, an Irish penny for
her shoe'.
I
will be creating some more new recipes in the near future
and I will also be making a
traditional
Irish
wedding cake.
The top layer of this cake is a rich whiskey
fruitcake which is saved to be eaten at the
christening of
the first child. The remainder of the cake
is traditionally a white
cake from which the couple keeps a slice
to be eaten
on their first anniversary. I have heard
of this custom before
but, to my knowledge, people no longer make
a whiskey cake for the top layer.
Last,
but not
least, LittleShamrocks.com
has grown immensely. Last month we had
almost 30,000 individual
visitors to the site, nearly 1,000 per
day. This amazes me because, about 18 months ago,
we only
had 500 visitors
per month. On behalf of everyone here,
I would like to thank all of you for your unwavering
interest in
LittleShamrocks.com.
Until
next time...Sláinte!
Tyna
