I’ve collected a few nice Irish quotes — and two versions of one Irish song — to go with your silly hats and green beer. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” – W.B. Yeats
“When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.” – Edna O’Brien
“I think being a woman is like being Irish… Everyone says you’re important and nice, but you take second place all the time.” – Iris Murdoch
“The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad.” – G.K. Chesterton
“To be Irish is to know that in the end the world will break your heart.” – Daniel Patrick Moynihan
And, because the one thing the Irish do as well as anyone (in addition to writing, and of course drinking) is singing, here’s a double hitter of “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” — sung by Bing Crosby, and again by three Irish tenors.
