Kiss Me, I'm Irish

By Elizabeth King

Well, don’t really. And truth be told, I’m Scottish. I’m more likely to throw stones, than kiss them…which is where this famous and oft proclaimed little axiom comes from.

I bet you’re curious now, aren’t you?

So, we’re almost at that day. You know the one I mean! The day that everyone pretends to be, wishes they were, and parties like, the Irish. They also wear green, eat green, and drink green. March 17th, is St. Patrick’s Day. This is the feast day that marks the death of a Christian missionary named Patrick, who ironically – is credited with converting the Irish to Christianity (and in the 400’s, probably would have turned green if he knew what goes on today to mark this anniversary!)

If you leave your house at all around March 17th you are likely to hear or see “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” – uttered from little old grannies to young college bros, adorning socks at the Dollar store or on banners in restaurants. These four little words, are hard to miss. But where did they come from…what do they really mean? And is it really appropriate to utter them, if you aren’t Irish? (There are alternate versions available as well – Kiss Me, I’m Not Irish, Kiss Me, I’m Half Irish, Kiss Me, I’ll Pretend to Be Irish…you get it.)

So it all revolves around kissing a rock. A ROCK. Not a rock star…an actual R-O-C-K!  It is said to bring luck, although, if you’d put those two things together for me before now, I would not have thought of the connection being possible! If I was thinking about kissing a rock I would not be thinking I was lucky, but in fact, quite sad…!

But “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” is really a proclamation of “Kiss me, I’m Irish…and as such you’ll be lucky, because my luck is contagious, and kissing me is just as good as kissing the Blarney Stone (which is also Irish, and believed to be a good luck charm!)” Phew. A mouthful (no pun intended!)

So here is the deal…

The Blarney stone is a piece of limestone built into Blarney Castle (in Cork, Ireland). For hundreds of years it has been believed that if you kiss the stone, you will be granted the power of elocution, as well as flattering and persuasive speech.

There are a few stories credited with being the source of this rumour…all of which revolve around the luck of the MacCarthy’s of Blarney Castle, between the 1400’s and 1600’s. In all stories, after kissing the stone, a MacCarthy is able to use their gift of the gab to sway their favour in matters of legal importance and land title. Most famously, it is Clíodhna (the Irish goddess of love and beauty) who is said to have suggested to the builder of the castle that by kissing the rock, luck would be had in a lawsuit he was fighting at the time. In another, a mysterious, old woman on the road suggested the same to a later MacCarthy who was embroiled in a land scandal with Elizabeth I. In both cases, the suggestions proved fortuitous, and the lucky charm tale has spread like wildfire ever since.

So…if you’re feeling a little down on your luck, or a little less than eloquent with your words, grab an Irish person on March 17th, and lay one on them.

Or not.

I think you’d have better luck with the stone.

Check out the Castle Page for some real Irish eye-candy!

http://www.blarneycastle.ie/

Elizabeth King is the Administrative/Volunteer Coordinator at Lang Pioneer Village Museum.  She has been working at the Village since May of 2009.  Elizabeth is passionate about history, costuming, reading, vegan culinary crusades and environmental pursuits. When she isn’t in the middle of a project at Lang, she is often found with her head in the clouds.