Celtic Current Events

When you lift a glass on Bloomsday in honor of James Joyce, you can also remember an era of progressive thought ushered in with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. When we host a “speakeasy” at The Whiskey Snug, we do it for fun and nostalgia, just like “putting a rose in your hair like an Andalusian girl” for Bloomsday!

May's featured jeweler is ShanOre! Peek inside for a great deal on this ShanOre pendant.

May 1^st is a new quarter day in the Celtic calendar – Beltaine (say BYEL-tin-uh) – a fire festival to celebrate “the force that drives the green fuse through the flower,” to quote Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. It’s a time of brilliance and heat. It was on Betaine that St Patrick lit a fire on the Hill of Slane near Tara in defiance of the High King as a sign of the New Faith succeeding the old religion.

What is a Shillelagh? If you don't know, you do now!

With such a strong history of Catholicism in Ireland, there is a trove of Holy Week traditions. Completing your “spring cleaning” by Good Friday is important preparation for the priest to visit and bless your home on Easter. The old ban on alcohol this day is still in force in some areas. No work with tools is to be done to avoid bloodshed. You should get your hair cut (to avoid headaches) and shop for new Easter clothes.

April is a good month to think on trees. Monday, April 22 is Earth Day and Friday, April 26 is Arbor Day. We’ll be celebrating trees and all of the good gifts they so generously give us with a variety of fun activities and special promotions that week. Branch out, turn over a new leaf and feel the sap rising at The Celtic Ranch!