Tag: patrick

What Is The Truth About St. Patrick’s Day
CULTURE, TOP FOUR

What Is The Truth About St. Patrick’s Day

In 1997, my students and I traveled to Croagh Patrick, a mountain in County Mayo, as part of a study abroad program course on Irish literature I was teaching for the University of Dayton. I wanted my students to visit the place where, each July, thousands of pilgrims pay homage to St. Patrick, who, according to lore, fasted and prayed on the summit for 40 days. While there, our tour guide relayed the story of how St. Patrick, as he lay on his death bed on March 17 in A.D. 461, supposedly asked those gathered around him to toast his heavenly journey with a “wee drop of whiskey” to ease their pain. The mention of whiskey left me wondering if St. Patrick may have unintentionally influenced the way most of the world celebrates the holiday today: by drinking. It wasn’t always this way. The F...
St. Patrick’s Day: It’s Paddy, Not Patty!
CULTURE

St. Patrick’s Day: It’s Paddy, Not Patty!

It's been maybe 10 and a half years since I last celebrated St. Patrick's Day in Ireland and through traveling around this fine world, I've had this conversation too many times to count: Someone: 'Where are you from?' Me: 'Ireland.' Someone: 'Oh, you're Irish! Me too.' Me: 'Really? What part of Ireland are you from?' Someone: 'Oh, I've never actually been to Ireland. My great-grandmother was Irish.' Me: 'So where in America are you from?' There's no day in the whole year that this conversation happens more than on March 17th... or the Saturday after if it falls on a weekday. There's also the whole rigmarole of me also having to prove I'm Irish on occasion due the fact that six years in England and four in Korea has led to my accent being a bit askew. Also living with a Canadian bo...
St. Patrick’s Day Is Near: Time To Toast … Your Liver
TOP FOUR

St. Patrick’s Day Is Near: Time To Toast … Your Liver

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here, we have something to cheer over – our livers. If St. Patrick is celebrated for his unselfish commitment converting Ireland to Christianity, we should also celebrate the magnanimous dedication of our liver not only to process alcohol, but keep our whole body fed and alive. I am a biochemist, and every time I teach liver metabolism, I am in awe of all its accomplishments. Here are four reasons to be grateful to your liver. It metabolizes alcohol and other bad molecules The alcohol we consume can’t be directly excreted - it has to be transformed to be eliminated. Degrading alcohol is a multi-step process that happens in the liver, where cells metabolize it using a series of enzymes working in a tidy cascade of reactions. These enzymes will turn alco...
St Patrick’s Day – Celebrating Green
LIFESTYLE, TOP FOUR

St Patrick’s Day – Celebrating Green

While you may or may not want to be "wearing of the green" on St. Patrick's Day, you may still bring the best of luck to you and yours with any type of celebration to welcome and open the door to Spring, which is part of the St. Pat's Day festivities. It is just so enjoyable to go from the lackluster bland colors of Winter to the vibrant and enticing shades of green and Spring. One of the staples of a St. Patrick's Day dinner is Irish Soda Bread. There are so many different recipes available on the 'net that you can pick and choose to your heart's delight. This bread is so named because "baking soda" is the leavening agent and the "X" cut into the top of the loaf is a sure fire way to ward off any evil spirits that may be lurking around. Watching the St. Patrick's Day parade from New Yo...
‘Executed By Cop’ The Story Of Patrick Lyoya
IN OTHER NEWS

‘Executed By Cop’ The Story Of Patrick Lyoya

A white Michigan cop fatally shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head while kneeling on top of him after pulling him over for allegedly having a problem with his license plate, video released Wednesday by the Grand Rapids police department (after demands from the public and Lyoya’s family) shows. Lyoya, a 26 year-old Black man, was unarmed. He had two young children. “I want people to see the way my son was killed. I want the entire world to see how my son was executed,” Peter Lyoya told MLive. Lyoya came to the U.S. as a refugee in 2014, fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “He is my firstborn,” Dorcas Lyoya, Patrick’s mother, said. Adding she had thought the U.S. would be safe. “I am really deeply hurt and wounded. I don’t know what to do, I cannot stop myself from cr...