This shamrock magically showed up overnight in Rio Rancho at the intersection of Sara Road and Southern Blvd. Matt Hollinshead/Observer

 

St Patrick’s day blessing: “May your blessings outweigh the number of shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.”

 

The Irish have struck, painting a green shamrock in the middle of the intersection of Sara Road and Southern Blvd. in Rio Rancho.

It’s an annual thing it is. Nobody knows who does it. It just magically appears. Like leprechauns.

A green shamrock was painted at the intersection of Southern Boulevard and Sara Road in Rio Rancho, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day 2022. (Matt Hollinshead/Observer)

The shamrock is the national flower of Ireland. Here are some other shamrock facts and myths, according to Irisharoundtheworld.com

It was the Celtic druids who started the Shamrock on its path into Irish history. The Shamrock was initially associated with the Celtic goddess Ana or Anu, with the three leaves representing her had a belief in the number 3. It was known as “the perfect number.” Like with the Awen Celtic Symbol, this meaning of three was represented in many ways.

Such as:

  • Some believe that they represent three divisions of the soul (mind, body and spirit)
  • Others believe it represents the three realms we inhabit (land, sea and sky)
  • Also underworld, middle world and the upper world
  • Love, Wisdom and Truth
  • Nature, knowledge and truth

It didn’t stop there. Celtic society was organized around the sacred three, with three classes, three colors, and three principal gods.

The first evidence of a link between St Patrick and the Shamrock appears in 1675 on the St Patrick’s Coppers or Halfpennies. These appear to show a figure of St Patrick preaching to a crowd while holding a shamrock, presumably to explain the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

The word shamrock comes from the Old Irish “seamróg”, translated as “little clover.” The Irish word for clover is “seamair”, and óg means “young” or “little.” It is the most emblematic Irish symbol, and it is everywhere, embroidered on clothes, incorporated in rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets, brooches, and on buckles of Irish dancing shoes.

The Shamrock is used in the emblems of many state organizations, both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Irish blessings for St Patrick’s day:

May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.