Happy Saint Paddy's Day....according to the church, its over!

March 17 for centuries has been the date to celebrate, but this year Irish Bishops voted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 15 because the 17th falls within Holy Week. This is the only time it has been moved since 1940.

Which reminds me of the time St. Patrick visited an Brussels Irish pub.
The Fleming, The Walloon, and the German Belgian see St. Patrick and each buys him a beer.

Before leaving, St. Patrick shakes the Flemings hand. The Fleming says, "My arthritis! St. Patrick, your touch has cured it!"

St. Patrick next shakes Belgian Germans hand, and The Belgian German says, "My blind right eye! St. Patrick, you've cured it!"

St. Patrick goes to shake Walloons hand, but the Walloon jumps up from his chair and runs away from him."Get away from me, St. Patrick." says the Walloon. "I'm on disability!"

Dubliners - The Wild Rover (No Nay Never)

AND A FEW OF MY FAVORITE IRISH JOKES

Two Irishmen are sitting in a pub having beer and watching the brothel across the street. They see a Baptist minister walk into the brothel, and one of them says to the other, "Aye, 'tis a shame to see a man of the cloth goin' bad."
Then they see a rabbi enter the brothel, and the other Irishman says, "Aye, 'tis a shame to see that the Jews are fallin' victim to temptation."
Then they see a Catholic priest enter the brothel, and one of the Irishmen says, "What a terrible pity ... one of the girls must be quite ill."

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut. The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car.
He says, "Sir, have you been drinking?
Just water," says the priest.
The trooper says, "Then why do I smell wine?"
The priest looks at the bottle and says, "Good Lord! He's done it again!"

Paddy was tooling along the road one fine day when the local policeman, a friend of his, pulled him over. "What's wrong, Seamus?" Paddy asked. "Well didn't ya know, Paddy, that your wife fell out of the car about five miles back?" said Seamus. "Ah, praise the Almighty!" Paddy replied with relief. "I thought I'd gone deaf!"

How to pour a perfect Guinness

Unless you're in a constant state of drunkeness all weekend, you might have heard it’s St. Paddys Day this Monday. So who better to tell you how to properly enjoy Ireland’s finest export than Fergal Murray, Brewmaster of Guinness. If you’ve never had one, a pint of Guinness is a work of art. It’s not a beer to be “shotgunned” or “mainlined” or “freebased.” It is to be explored with all your senses. Oh, and since it has alcohol, you can also explore senses of “self confidence,” “self importance” and, finally, “self urination.”

St. Patrick's Day in Brussels

This year promises to be the best ever celebration of all things Irish by incorporating the best sport, food, music, and of course, drink!

There will be a full day of activities with something to appeal to everyone. Sports will be the first order of the day as Irish athletes demonstrate their national games with junior and senior gaelic football and hurling matches. Want to give them a try? Nothing simpler. Demonstrations and tutorials on Gaelic Football and Hurling will take place throughout the day at the football pitch in Parc Cinquantenaire.

Kids will be looking Irish in no time with face-painting in the afternoon.

And of course, no St. Patrick’s Day celebration would be complete without a few choice beverages. Our pitchside pub will feature legendary Guinness draught, Celtic Cider in pint bottles and Lucky Stripe lager so no one will go thirsty.After the sports head indoors to Espace 53 under the Cinquantenaire arch for Irish story telling, live music, prize draws an Irish dancing. For more information please click on the ’events’ and ’map’ buttons above so you can find everything you need for the best St. Patrick’s Day ever!