Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Not much usually happens on St. Paddy’s Day here in Downeast, Maine. The closest Irish pub is “Paddy Murphy’s” in Bangor, but a 100 miles round trip is a long way to go for a couple of beers!! This year we’re lucky to have the Irish folk singer, Tommy Sands playing at The Grand in Ellsworth. So you know that’s where I’ll be tonight. 
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The following is a link to a story about the hotel that will replace my store in Bar Harbor. I hope to work out a deal to be on the ground floor of the new hotel for the 2010 season. I will keep you updated.       http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/101032.html
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For the month of March any web order over $25. Receives a free CD of Celtic Fiddling. 
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www.CelticRainbowGifts.com 
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Croagh Patrick
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Croagh Patrick is a mountain near the town of Westport in County Mayo looking out on the Atlantic ocean from the southern shore of Clew Bay.  It rises in a perfect cone to a height of 2510 feet and was a pagan sacred place long before the arrival of Christianity.
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For the Celtic peoples of Ireland it was the dwelling place of the deity Crom Dubh and the principal site of the harvest festival of Lughnasa, traditionally held around August 1 (until the mid-nineteenth century only women were allowed on the summit during this pilgrimage and childless women would sleep on the summit during Lughnasa eve in the hope of encouraging fertility).
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Neolithic art can still be seen on a rock outcropping known as "St. Patrick's Chair" along the path to the top, and a Celtic hill fort was recently uncovered at the base of the mountain.  
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According to popular Christian stories, St. Patrick visited the sacred mountain during the festival time in AD 441 and spent forty days and forty nights banishing dragons, snakes, and demonic forces from the site. Were there dragons and demonic forces actually living atop this mountain, or does the legend have a metaphorical rather than a literal meaning?
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Mt. Croagh Patrick is the most important Catholic pilgrimage destination in Ireland. Nearly one million visitors, most of them pilgrims, climb to the top every year. Almost 30,000 pilgrims make the trek on the last Sunday in July, known as "Reek Sunday."
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Sources:  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04509b.htm
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http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/ireland/mt_croach.html
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http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/mt-croagh-patrick.htm
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