Ten Things You Might Not Know About the Irish-- Part 1

From the March 17, 2013, Chicago Tribune by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer, two really great researchers. How do they come up with all this good stuff? According to the paper's date, it was St. Patrick's Day, even though St. Patrick was not Irish and he did not banish snales from Ireland. In fact, some of St. Patrick's exploits actually belong to Palladius, a Christian leader who preceded St. Patrick.

"But let's celebrate anyway by sharing these 10 malarkey-free facts."

1. In 1901, Chicago's top cop was FRANCIS O'NEILL who was arguably the world's pre-eminent expert on Irish folk music, collecting and preserving thousands of pieces of music, many of which would have been lost forever.

2. While the origins of NOTRE DAME's nickname are lost in history, the name Fighting Irish was first used regularly around the turn of the last century. According to one account, university officials finally gave it their blessing in 1927 figuring it was better than other names used for the teams: Ramblers, Rovers and Nomads. The name Nomads came from the school traveling far and wide to find opponents.

Better Than Celebrating St. Palladius Day. --DaCoot