I'm Liam this month

Liam is the Irish Gaelic version of William.
Parades, music, wearing green, and raising a few pints can be expected soon.

I had a very special St. Patrick's Day back in 1989. It was a Friday that year and by a strange coincidence I finalized a deal with my employer to join a new group they recently had acquired in Shannon Ireland.  I was involved in taking engineering projects over to their development group.

For those familiar with Ireland (I was not then), Shannon is a river and an airport. It has an office park near the airport.

The great deal I  hammered out with the company included a bonus, transportation of my family (all 7 of us), a car lease in Ireland, and lodging for 3 months. I felt like a won a lottery.

This cartoon reminds me of our travels with the kids packed in the back.  I learned driving on the wrong side of the road OK.  One weekend our entertainment was my wife's practicing that left side thing along with a stick shift.  Luckily she had some stick shift experience.  There were many empty country roads that were fun that weekend.  Often the biggest traffic problem was sheep or cows on the road.

We visited many B&B's. 

Wife and I enjoyed listening to the Irish Drum (bodhran) at the pubs.  Here's a clip of one:

I discovered recently the band Tossers (Irish Punk).

Well guess what ? The Tossers are Southside Chicago Irish (for chi town people - it's just "southside Irish"). If you don't know, being called a tossers is not a good thing. I think it might be like a wanker, but I'm not completely sure.

Here's a bit on the word from the bio on their record company page:

"... In the early 1920's, the Irish instituted their own currency after the southern free state won independence from Britain. British coins became worthless throwaways - "tossers."

I was puzzled by the title of their song, so after a quick internet search I figured it out. Siobhan is another Irish form of Joan meaning "God is gracious." A popular name in Ireland where the anglicized versions are often used.

Did you know Ireland's schools are required to teach Gaelic.  I'm not sure how many years of it the students get.  There are still towns were it is spoken on the street in regular daily conversation.