Mar

Memories of St Patrick’s Day In and Out of Ireland

by Joyce McGreevy on March 15, 2021

Ireland’s blue sky and green meadow in March evoke memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Before the pandemic, March was a popular time for travel to Ireland . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

How Real Was My Cultural Authenticity?

What could be more Irish than memories of St Patrick’s Day in Ireland? Picture it: County Limerick, March 17. Sunlight illuminates my boarding school overlooking the banks of the River Shannon. Such cultural authenticity! We’ve the day off from classes. Cue the festivities!

The Dripping of the Green

Ah, but this is 1970s Ireland. St Patrick’s Day is a holy day, not yet a holiday. To “celebrate,” we each pin a clump of sodden shamrocks to the front of our school uniform. At Mass, I watch in dismal fascination as brackish liquid oozes along the wool grain of my personal upholstery.

Not how I’d imagined “the wearing of the green.”

My classmate Eileen sighs, “If only we were in Dublin gawking at the Americans.”

“Why Americans?” I ask.

“Ah sure, nobody celebrates St Patrick’s Day like the Yanks. They do go mad for it.”

Ireland’s Lismore Castle with spring flowers evokes memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

. . . but late spring in Ireland is lovely, too.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Wearing of . . . Whatever

Picture it: St Patrick’s Day, 1980-something, California. As I enter the office, our receptionist looks up. An expectant smile lights up Barb’s face. It dims when I remove my coat to reveal a black ensemble.

“Shoot,” says Barb. “I thought you’d be wearing your national costume.”

Gently, I break it to Barb that people in Ireland do not wear national costumes.

“What do they wear?” says Barb, aggrieved.

“Um, just . . . clothing. Like anybody else.”

“Oh.” She looks crushed.

“Also, Barb? I was born in Phoenix, Arizona.”

Crane Bar in Galway evokes memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Then again, Irish summers delight locals and visitors alike . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

Festivity to “Dye” For

Until recently, the way Ireland and the U.S. celebrated St Patrick’s Day was markedly different.

St Patrick’s Day American-style was an all-day Lucky Charms commercial. Suddenly the air was thick with “Sure ‘n begorrah!” and “Erin go bragh!”—words never uttered in Ireland.

Nationwide, green snack foods proliferated in breakrooms. Green bagels, green cupcakes, green cookies. If you didn’t wear green, people would pinch you. Green socks, green sunglasses, green badges emblazoned “Kiss me! I’m Irish!”

Oh, the indignity to a sensitive soul such as I.

An outdoor table set for dinner in County Cork evokes memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

. . . and by late summer, life in Ireland moves outdoors.
© Joyce McGreevy

Joyce McGreevy, Cultural Policewoman

Raised in two cultures and the mother of an Irish-born son, you’d think I’d have relished any chance to celebrate my heritage.

Hah!

In those days, the most Irish thing about me was my curmudgeonly attitude, my utter refusal to abide “such nonsensical carry-on.” No, I would NOT like a Shamrock Shake. No, I would NOT like to put on a plastic green leprechaun hat. No, I would NOT care for corned beef and cabbage. None of these things pertained to the Real Ireland.

So fierce was my commitment to cultural authenticity, that in contrast to all the green, my St Patrick’s Day face was forty shades of red.

As self-appointed cultural firebrand, I made it my mission to douse any outbreaks of fun with the cold water of clarity. Did people not know that St Patrick was born in France? That he came to Ireland because he was kidnapped by pirates?

A sunset in County Cork evokes memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Mind you, Ireland’s autumn has a poetry all its own . . .
© Joyce McGreevy

Snakes on a Plain

As for Himself “drrriving the snakes out of Oyrland,” honestly! Beautiful as Ireland is, would any self-respecting reptile choose to live in a cool, rainy climate? Those “snakes” were actually eels found in pre-Christian sacred wells. Patrick didn’t drive them anywhere. He simply blessed the wells while doing his bit to spread European culture.

Indeed, Palladius of Anatolia likely arrived before Patrick, having been sent by Pope Celestine in 432. Yes, the first bishop of Ireland was Turkish, yet does anyone throw poor old Palladius a parade?

My smoldering umbrage was not without fuel. Back then, we were all less savvy about each other’s cultures. As late as the 1990s, I was still fielding such questions as: “Does Ireland have electricity?” “Do people there just eat potatoes?” And my personal favorite: “Do people talk normal there—you know, do they say stuff like awesome and cowabunga”?

Totally, dude.

By the 2000s, the Internet and affordable travel were replacing stereotypes with cultural authenticity. We could see more clearly a culture’s everyday realities and thus appreciate it more.

Hunter’s Hotel, Enniskerry in winter evokes memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

. . . and Irish winters are festive.
© Joyce McGreevy

Real Ireland, Revisited

Picture it: Galway, Ireland 2013. My college friend Brendan invites me to the St Patrick’s Day parade. This, I trust, will reflect the Real Ireland.

And it does. Just not as I’d expected.

Yes, there are traditional Irish dancers and musicians. And floats commemorating Irish history. But there is also a diversity of cultures, immigrants from all over the world who have made their home in this “Ireland of the Welcomes.” As parade groups are announced, they present performances that artfully combine Irish elements with elements of their origin cultures.

In movement, music, costumes, colors, voices, and vibe, a magnificent chorus of cultures creates a mood that ripples through the crowd.

It is joy. The joy unique to something we all deeply miss these days: community. Not as a concept, but felt, lived, shared.

And the parade watchers? A sea of goofy green accessories. Neon as all get-out.

Oh, I see: In 21st century Ireland, there’s room for silliness along with solemnity. For pride with a dash of self-parody. For transcending stereotypes by sharing a laugh at them.

So, here’s to new memories. Picture it: St Patrick’s Day 2021, everywhere if not in Ireland. Instead, on Zoom with family, friends, and neighbors around the world. Ditching my narrow notion of cultural authenticity as we celebrate the many meanings of “Real Ireland.”

Now pass me that green bagel.

An Irish road in March evokes memories celebrated with cultural authenticity on St Patrick’s Day in Ireland. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Meet you in Ireland in March 2022?
© Joyce McGreevy

Tourism Ireland invites you to virtually visit Ireland this Wednesday, March 17. Join #StPatricksDayAtHome, here.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Ireland/Travels to the Past

Mar

In the (School) Zone of Different Cultures

by Sheron Long on March 9, 2021

This round cardboard school zone sign from The Gambia with arrow pointing in one direction and 3 kids going in the opposite direction is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © Kirszen/iStock

The beeline—Did this school sign from The Gambia presage 2020 education
or where kids wanted to go?
© Kirszen

School Zone Signs of the Times

All over the world in 2020 school traffic stopped and not just in the crosswalks. Now buses are creeping back to school, kids are in the crosswalks again, and our minds at OIC have moved from online education to the lines on school zone signs in different cultures.

Sign designers have the challenge of a small canvas driven by the need for clarity and by endless government guidelines on color, shape, and messaging. Road sign specs in the US government manual alone amount to 862 pages, and most other countries also make the effort to standardize. Still, while school zone signs and other road signs are a labor of uniformity and full of constraints, they show more about different cultures than you might think.

Fashion Statements?

In the USA, the yellow-green fluorescent background of the school zone sign sets off the beauty of basic black outfits. And the accessory—is it a stylish clutch? A book? Or the homework that the dog didn’t eat? No matter, with something in hand as a visual cue, we know the kids are surely on their way to school.

This yellow-green fluorescent school zone sign and arrow from the USA with a female and male student holding a book is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © Garrett Aitken/iStock.

Wait! Without shoes, this fashion statement isn’t in step with the times!
© Garrett Aitken

In such a small space, it’s the visual cue that distinguishes the school zone crossing from other pedestrian signage. In Japan, for example, one cue on school zone signs is the monochromatic equivalent of the brightly-colored caps school children wear to avoid traffic accidents.

While times have changed in Japan and more casual dress is allowed in elementary schools, the traditional uniform of short pants for young boys and pleated skirts for young girls still make the school statement— if not for fashion, at least for clarity.

This school zone sign in Japan features two students wearing caps, one a boy in short pants and the other a girl in a pleated skirt, both part of the traditional uniforms for elementary students, and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. <br>Image courtesy of Nesnad, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Most primary students in Japan wear
a hat or cap selected by the school with two styles shown on this sign.
Courtesy of Nesnad, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

School sign fashion is slow to change. Who would want to rewrite all those regulations to keep up with the trends? Or replace and recycle the millions of school signs around the world? But why must all the girls on school signs wear skirts? Clearly NOT a sign of the times, and neither are the bows.

This school zone crosswalk features a girl with a bow in her pigtail guiding a boy with book in hand and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. <br>Image © vikif/iStock.

The school crosswalk–always a path of increased assistance
© vikif

At least in Valencia, Spain, there’s a nod to a more modern accoutrement (and the weight of textbooks) via the much more practical backpack.

Seen in Spain—The classic yellow and black of well-dressed street signs
signals the way to school.
© jansmartino

Look, Ma! No Hands!

Yes, school zone signs have style from the realistic to the graphically simplistic. On the realistic side—In New Zealand, the school children have discernible hands and feet. Also in Zimbabwe and in Ecuador, where even the heels on the shoes show.

This school zone sign adopts a more realistic style, showing a girl and boy with hands and feet on their way to school, and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © Powerofforever/iStock .

New Zealanders must know it’s easier to read and write with hands.
© Powerofforeveer

Two school zone signs from Zimbabwe (L) and Ecuador (R) show a more realistic style, each with a girl and a boy who have hands and feet and with even the suggestion of heels on the shoes on the Ecuador sign, and are part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © Ben185 (Zimbabwe) and ANPerryman (Ecuador)/iStock .

These school signs in Zimbabwe (L) and Ecuador (R) illustrate how the degree of detail extends
beyond hands and feet to hairstyles, clothing, colors, shapes, borders, and even attribution.
© Ben185 (Zimbabwe) and © ANPerryman (Ecuador)

Denmark, however, believes in no frills: no hands, no feet, no discernible clothes, no coifs. Just get attention with a bright red border and get the point across. Still, with the no-hands approach, don’t you wonder why those ever-present books aren’t falling to the ground?

From Denmark, this triangular school zone sign with a thick red border and stylistically simple figures with no hands, feet, or clothing, shows a girl and a boy on their way to school and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © Carsten Medom Madsen/iStock .

Well labeled and simple, this triangular school zone sign in Denmark
gets right to the point, all three of them.
© Carsten Medom Madsen

Like Denmark, Italy and Spain rely on the same red-and-white attention grabbers. The figures, though, exude enthusiasm—kids running to class with no feet and swinging books with no hands. So eager to learn! But—yikes!—what about the two who lost their heads?

Similar signs from Italy and Spain, each with a thick red border and stylistically simple figures of a boy and a girl with no hands, feet, or clothing, who are running enthusiastically to school and are part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © Matthew71(Italian sign) and peeterv (Spanish sign)/iStock.

Dents, scratches, chips, a little graffiti. It’s all part of being a schoolyard sign.
© Matthew71 (Italian sign) and © peeterv (Spanish sign)

Who Leads?

Take a look back at the signs so far. Almost all show two figures. A designer in each country had to decide which one would lead. And, despite the female stereotypes of dress that seem to grace school signs around the world, it’s often the girl who leads. Sometimes out front, sometimes from behind, and sometimes with real intention and confidence. Is this sign a sign of the times before the times had come or a sign that the times took time to notice that girls are leaders, too?

This triangular school zone sign from Germany shows a girl confidently leading a boy to school and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © prill/iStock.

Take my hand and follow me!
© prill

On some school zone signs, a parent shows up, taking the lead. This sign from Greece offers a bit of a father-and-daughter dance, maybe even a tug to get a reluctant kid going.

This blue circular school zone sign from Greece shows a father pulling his daughter along on her way to school and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © NeilLang/iStock.

Greece is the sunniest country in Europe! With about 250 days of sunshine in Greece,
it’s hard to want to go to school.
© Neil Lang

And sometimes, the signs show just kids all on their own and in a rush to get to school. No reluctance for this guy in India!

This square blue-bordered school zone sign from India shows a boy running to school and is part of a series of school zone signs from different cultures. Image © yogesh_more/iStock.

Late for school or can’t wait to get there? Either way, this guy’s on a mission.
© yogesh_more

Right now, there’s little reluctance in family homes around the world after many COVID months at home. The enthusiastic “running to school” signs, may not be part of the culture where you live, but they capture our current feelings completely.

And when it comes to who leads, it doesn’t matter if it’s the girl or the boy on the school zone sign. But it does matter that leaders around the world and in every community get “in the zone,” that they show up to sense the strength of our feelings and pave the way for a safe return to school.

Just like the school zone signs in different cultures, the details and the student portrayals will vary, but every culture will find its way back to school, leaving its unique mark. And that’s a good sign.

With appreciation to iStock for all school zone photos, except the sign in Japan.

Please comment on the post below.

Sheron Long Comments

Cultural Diversity/Worldwide Sites

Mar

Protecting the Rural Heritage of France

by Meredith Mullins on March 1, 2021

Sheep in the French countryside showing the right to rural heritage. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The freedom to baa whenever you feel like it.
© Meredith Mullins

No BS: New Law To Preserve the Sounds and Smells of the French Countryside

It would not be unusual when thinking about the rural heritage of France to find a sign at the outskirts of a typical French village that says:

Enter at your own risk. We have bells that ring regularly. We have roosters who sing early in the morning. We have livestock herds that graze here (and might be wearing bells). We have farmers who work to give you food.

If you do not support these things, then you are not in the right place.

This pride of place is the new manifesto of the French countryside. In January of this year, the desire of agrarian areas in France to remain connected to their rural heritage is now supported by law—the new French Sensory Heritage Law.

This law protects the rights of the country dwellers to their heritage—the smells and sounds that are an inherent part of rural life.

Lavender field and hay bales in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © Sheron Long.)

You guessed it—that includes the earthy/rotten-egg smell of manure, the crowing of roosters, the clanging of cow bells, the chirping of cicadas, the baadboy baaing of sheep, the croaking of frogs, the grinding of tractor gears (seemingly always in need of WD-40), the quacking of ducks, and other sounds and smells that will soon be added to the codified list.

Tractor on a road in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © Rene Rauschenberger/Pixabay.)

The tension between country locals and the influx of the neo-rurals (as they’re affectionately called) is rising, as tourists and second-home owners descend on charming French villages to seek solace in the peace and quiet of the country.

However, when you leave city noises far behind, all is not quiet. The countryside comes alive with its own symphony. And, for some people who are looking for ultimate silence, these new choruses don’t fit the picture of paradise.

The Soundscape of the Countryside

Immerse yourself for a moment in some of the sounds of the French countryside:

Would these sounds drive you crazy? It depends on your respect for tradition and terroir. (It also depends perhaps on how early in the morning or how close to home said sounds and smells entered your world.)

Cows in a field in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage in France and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © PxHere.)

Moo-ve over neo-rurals.

The Neo-Rurals Are Challenging Rural Heritage

For some countryside visitors, these natural sounds trigger feuds, complaints, and lawsuits.

In Le Beausset in southern France, Mayor Georges Ferrero was asked to kill the town cicadas because they were too rowdy. He responded that the cicadas were the music of Provence, and he built a cicada statue in town to honor that heritage. Their song lives on.

Cicada in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage and the new sensory heritage law in France. (Image © PxHere.)

One cicada is interesting. A thousand cicadas are music.

Mayor Francis Durand of Les Bondons in Occitanie was asked to delay the ringing of the church bells, so that vacationers could sleep later. The mayor denied that request saying that the church bells were a part of the village and had been ringing for years. (There might have also been a few words said under his breath.)

Other feuds in the headlines included a complaint against quacking ducks in the Landes region of France (a hub for duck breeding) and irritation over cow bells in the Alps region.

A duck thinking in the French countryside, showing the importance of rural heritage and the new sensory heritage law in France. (Image © VancouverLami/Pixabay.)

I think ducks have a right to quack, especially in the region known for breeding ducks.
Don’t you agree?
© VancouverLami/Pixabay

A couple in the Dordogne was ordered to fill in their pond to prevent the amorous croaking of frogs during mating season (measured at 63 decibels, similar to the sound of a vacuum cleaner). However, several protected species thrive in the pond, so the couple faced an additional dilemma—an issue still being sorted out in the courts.

A frog in a pond in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage in France and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © PxHere.)

The amorous sounds of mating season

The Poster Coq: Maurice the Rooster

The underlying differences between urban and rural—what is rightful heritage and what is not— rose to a crescendo in the case of Maurice, the Oléron Rooster.

Vacation home owners on the island of Oléron in western France were neighbors of Corrine Fesseau, the keeper of Maurice (and several other egg-laying fowl).

They sued her in 2019 for the “abnormal racket” of Maurice greeting the day with his obligatory morning cock-a-doodle-doo (a crow called “discreet” by Maurice’s lawyer). Too early in the morning, the plaintiffs said. But Maurice couldn’t help himself. He had his tradition.

Maurice the Oleron rooster in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage in France and the new sensory heritage law. (Photo courtesy of Corrine Fesseau.)

Maurice stands proud on his poster.
Courtesy of Corrine Fesseau

The court sided with Maurice (as did more than 140,000 supporters who signed a “Save Maurice” petition and followed a Je Suis Maurice social media campaign). The plaintiffs had to pay damages and legal fees.

Maurice T-shirt showing the importance of rural heritage in France and the new sensory heritage law. (Image from the Oléron shops.)

Support in every form, even T-shirts
From the Oléron shops

Maurice’s lawyer closed by saying, “This rooster was not being unbearable. He was just being himself.” The roosters brought by locals to the courtroom in solidarity agreed.

Although Maurice passed away in June, 2020 (a hero and a symbol of rural life to the end), Maurice II has now strutted in to preserve the heritage of morning crowing.

Cockerel rooster in the French countryside, showing the importance of rural heritage in France and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © PxHere.)

“Je suis Maurice” the rooster supporters of Maurice crowed in solidarity.

Vive La France . . . and Its Special Sounds & Smells

These growing complaints and lawsuits culminated in action by Pierre Morel-à-L’Huissier, a member of the French National Assembly. He crafted a law proposition—The Law Protecting the Sensory Heritage of the French Countryside.

The use of the word heritage was deliberate, as heritage in France has special meaning. It implies protection of something important and culturally relevant that is in danger of being lost. The proposal passed unanimously.

Lamb and sheep in the French countryside showing the importance of rural heritage and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © Sheron Long.)

And in January, 2021, the new Sensory Heritage Law passed unanimously in the French Senate, giving local governments legal backup and, hopefully, preventing the kind of lawsuits that made Maurice the Rooster famous.

After the law passed, the Secretary of Rural Affairs, Joël Giraud, added that French rural territories are not just sceneries. They are also sounds, smells, activities, and practices that are part of France’s heritage.

Dog smelling lavender in the French countryside showing the importance or rural heritage and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © Sheron Long.)

I Love The Smell of Rural Heritage in the Morning

If you don’t like the smells of farm animals, if the melodies of cow and sheep bells aren’t in your Top Ten, or if you would rather sleep past the morning rooster wake-up call, you may need to readjust your vacation or home-owning plans.

Oh, I See. To put it more simply, if you can’t appreciate the rural heritage and cultural traditions of the French countryside, then “you are not in the right place.”

Goat with big bell, showing the importance of rural heritage in the French countryside and the new sensory heritage law. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Soundscapes courtesy of World Sounds and Zapsplat. Thank you to the following sources: The Local Paris, The Guardian, France 24, and The New York Times.

A special thank you to Corrine Fesseau, fighting for the rights of rural heritage and her roosters Maurice I and Maurice II.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/France

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