St. Patrick’s Day is a feast holiday celebrated by the Irish (and increasingly by many non Irish in the western world). It’s typically celebrated on the 17th of March, but this date can change based on decrees from church authorities. If, for instance, the holiday is scheduled to fall within a period known as “Holy Week,” the Church may move the date of the feast around.

While St. Patrick’s Day is a designated official holiday in Ireland and in parts of Canada and Newfoundland, it’s a “non official” holiday in places like the US and the UK. Indubitably, St. Patrick’s Day invites a flurry of festivals and parades. In Boston, the tradition of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade dates all the way back to the 1730s. Huge parades occur every year in both New York City and Boston to celebrate the occasion. Of course, Irish cities, such as Limerick, Cork, and Dublin get into the action as well.

Celebrants often wear green and orange to pay homage to traditional Irish colors. That said, it’s funny to note that the original “official” color of St. Patrick’s Day was not green but rather blue. Other ways people celebrate include eating green food and drinking green beer, wearing shamrocks, glugging down pints of Guinness, and going to church (for a small but dedicated few!) Though St. Patrick’s Day is a Christian holiday that in some senses dates back more than 1500 years, it’s only been around as a widely celebrated occasion since the 17th century. (St. Patrick is one of Ireland’s Patron Saints. His funeral was on the 17th of March in the year 461 AD, and thus the holiday is a feast in honor of him.)

To explore Celtic heritage and Celtic jewelry in greater detail, we at Irish wedding rings, and much more. All of our pieces come with hallmarks of quality which have been officially approved by the Dublin assay’s office and we make to order every piece we sell (turnaround times typically run around 18 days). Whether you’d like to buy a cute little brooch for St. Patrick’s Day or you’re searching for a Celtic engagement ring, you can count on celtic-weddingrings.com to deliver superior service, amazing craftsmanship, and a satisfaction guarantee.

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The Irish language is spoken by more than 1.6 million inhabitants of the Emerald Isle alone as well as by hundreds of thousands of people spread throughout the world, particularly in places such as Canada, Australia, the United States, and England. The language is known as a Goidelic language and has close ties to Scottish Gaelic. It is recognized by the European Union as one of the supernational body’s official languages.

Irish is a mandatory subject in Ireland’s public schools, although the distribution of fluent speakers is uneven. In the so called Gaeltacht regions of the county, the vast majority of residents are conversant – if not fluent – in Irish and use the language on a daily basis. But the vernacular is far from ubiquitous in the country. According to the recent census, fewer than ten percent of the country’s residents speak the Irish language on a day to day basis. That said, the same census showed that nearly four out of ten native Irish people do have some conversational skills. While English used to be the second language of Ireland, over the past century, the island’s residents have adopted more and more English linguistic traditions and have eschewed or disregarded past requirements to employ Irish language in government offices.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Irish language communities have proliferated in dozens of countries around the world. Nearly 30,000 citizens in the United States speak Irish Gaelic at their houses. In Australia, fewer than 1,000 native Irish speakers were reported in a recent census, but likely thousands more relatively fluent (or conversant) speakers live on the continent. While the three major dialects of the language are mutually intelligible, there are significant differences among them. The Munster dialect is popular in regions of the country such as County Cork and Kerry. The Ulster dialect, on the other hand, is spoken in certain key regions of Northern Ireland as well as Rosses. The most dominant dialect – the Connacht dialect – can be heard spoken around the Aran Islands as well as the Connemara. There is also a sub dialect, known as Gweedore, which is essentially the same as the Ulster dialect with a few small but important variations. Recent linguistic investigations have revealed that the language is experiencing something of a renaissance both in popular culture and in key local regions of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Canada.

If you’re curious to learn more about the fascinating language and customs of Ireland, don’t hesitate to contact us here at celtic-weddingrings.com. We are one of Dublin’s most successful and enterprising jewelry makers. We have 20 years of solid experience under our belts and a rich catalog of Celtic engagement rings, Celtic jewelry, and traditional gold, silver, and platinum products. We make all of our Irish and Celtic rings and jewelry to order and we’re well versed in the traditions which inform these finely crafted pieces. Whether you’re searching for an exquisite Claddagh ring to present as a gift to a newlywed or you’re simply browsing for ornamental Celtic jewelry to spice up a home collection, we’re ready and able to meet your needs. Call us at 1 800 350-9962. If you’re in Ireland, you can call us at 05786-45502. We also take orders and answer questions online – email us any time for clarification or for special Celtic jewelry requests.
 

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Here are some tips for young couples on the verge of becoming engaged. Obviously, practical considerations abound. When preparing to merge lives and move towards marriage, the couple must consider issues ranging from the profound (is this really the person I want to spend the rest of my life with?) to the mundane (how should we integrate our health insurance policies to save on our monthly deductibles?). Traditions can provide some guidelines for best behavior, but ultimately an engagement is a bond of trust between two individuals. Only the two individuals involved truly understand their relationship’s intricacies and emotional intimacies.

In terms of practical advice for the actual proposal, surveys suggest that simple, well thought out romantic gestures are almost winners. On the other hand, complicated, overly surprising, or overly dramatic gestures can potentially be misinterpreted and can lead to hurt feelings or rejection outright. The perfect proposal blends an element of surprise with the assurance of inevitability of the result. If you propose out of the blue – without laying the groundwork of a loving relationship first – you could find yourself holding the ring. On the other hand, if your proposal is too prosaic or predictable, you could disappoint by falling short of romantic expectations. If you’re stuck in terms of ideas, you can talk to your fiancé-to-be’s friends or close relatives. If you’re still jammed, err on the side of simplicity and “emotional truth.” In other words, don’t employ a gimmick for gimmick’s sake – think about what’s meaningful about your relationship, and then develop your proposal strategy around that.

The length of your engagement will depend on circumstances both in and out of your control. You may wish to marry within the month, or you can hold off for years – your finances, family situation, emotional maturity, and child rearing plans will all likely impact your wedding date decision.

Of course, before becoming engaged, you’ll likely need to acquire an Celtic engagement ring to complete your proposal. We here at Celtic Wedding Rings encourage you to peruse our website to explore our custom Celtic engagement ring catalog. For two-plus decades, we’ve crafted an array of Celtic jewelry, diamond rings, Irish wedding rings, and Celtic wedding rings. All of our officially hallmarked pieces reflect the proud heritage and deep symbolism of the Irish people, and we employ the finest materials and top craftsmen in the field to ensure our customers get great products every time. Dial us toll free from the US, order (or ask questions) via email though our site, or simply stop in to visit us. Becoming engaged can be a rich, exciting, and romantically adventurous process. Let us here at Celtic Rings Ltd help you take the first step to a long and prosperous future.

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