Irish Blessings

May your troubles be less
And your blessing be more
And nothing but happiness
Come through your door.
Like the gold of the sun
Like the light of the day,
May the luck of the Irish
Shine bright on your way
Like the glow of a star
And the lilt of a song
May these be your joys
All your life long

May the good saints protect ye
And the devil neglect ye

May the blessings and love
Of Saint Patrick fall
On yourself, on your home,
On your dear ones and all

May good Saint Patrick bless you
And keep you in his care,
And may Our Lord be near you
To answer every prayer

Sure and this just isn’t blarney
For what I say is true
The luck of the Irish was with me
The day that I met you

All the little leprechauns
In Ireland’s sunny isle
Couldn’t bring you all the luck
I’m wishing you the while

Here’s to the land of the Shamrock
Where Irish hearts are true
Here’s to our blessed Saint Patrick
But most of all, here’s to you

Ireland’s the one place on earth
That Heaven has kissed
With melody, mirth
Meadow and mist.
May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.


May the sound of happy music
And the lilt of Irish laughter
Fill your heart with gladness
That stays forever after

May your heart be light
Your cares be few
And may your wishes
All come true

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends –
Each day your whole life through!



THE HUNGER STRIKES

By R.K. Walker


The hunger strikes that began in the H-blocks of the Maze/Long Kesh prison on March 1, 1981, have been credited by some with starting the peace process in Northern Ireland. For others, they elongated "The Long War".

The hunger strikes of 1980/81 inside the H-Block prison, endured by Irish Republican prisoners and resulting in the death of 10 of them, is often said to have changed the course of Irish history. They were fasting for the right to be recognized as "political prisoners", or for, in the prison terminology of the era, "special category status". The British government, led by Margaret Thatcher, and committed to a policy of "criminalization", refused acknowledgement.

Bobby Sands, the most famous hunger striker globally was first to die on May 5th 1981. More than 100,000 people attended his funeral and in Irish Republican circles, he and his nine dead comrades are revered as martyrs.

Sands’s martyrdom is compounded by the fact that he was elected to the British parliament by the voters of Fermanagh and South Tyrone in April 1981, adding significantly to the tension of the time. The hunger strikes invigorated and, some would say, effectively created Provisional Sinn Fein as a political force for change – and Sinn Fein became a vehicle for the peace process.




Back