St Patrick’s Day

Happy St Patrick’s Day.

I had a number of possible blips today when, in looking for something else, I came across this table cloth. My mother and mother in law were each Irish (from either side of the border) and my wife and I cannot recall from which side we inherited this.

Round the side are scenes of the Tara brooch, the Rock of Cashel, Ross Castle in Killarney etc. all of which can still be seen.

However, the centrepiece can no longer be seen. It depicts Nelson’s Pillar in the centre of Dublin which was blown up on 8 March 1966. This was the 50th anniversary of the Rising in 1916. A bit like some religious artefacts, many people have bits of granite which they claim came from the column. One of my brother in laws skipped school to go to see the wreckage so I think his claim will be true.