Top o' the mornin' to yee

In honor of my Irish roots, I wanted to share some of the fascinating Irish folklore widely preached and believed by Irishmen & leprechauns:

• An Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday person upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should correspond to the person's age plus one.

• If a bird flew into a house, it was forewarning of impending death.

• It was unlucky to knit at night until you were certain the sheep were asleep.

• On Epiphany, January 6, the tail of a herring was rubbed across the eyes of children to protect them from disease for the rest of the year.

• When sailing upon the any waters, coins dropped overboard are believed to cause a tumultuous storm.

• It is considered unlucky to build an extension of one's house from the rear.
  

• One should never look a cat in the eye who has just wiped its face with its paw - whoever the cat looked at would be the first in the household to die.

• The old Irish saying "God between us and all harm" was said upon hearing the crow of a rooster to prevent betrayal.

• Irish mothers never say how cute a baby is because it may bring down the evil eye upon the child.

• It is an Irish wedding tradition for the Groom to give his Bride a coin after they exchange rings as a symbol of prosperity.

• An iron horseshoe should be hung over the front door to ward off evil & despair.

As I conclude this post, I leave you with this blessing:

May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings, slow to make enemies, quick to make friends. But rich or poor, quick or slow, may you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.

Have a fabulous St. Patrick's Day.