Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Paddy's Day


Leprechauns had nothing to do with St. Patrick or the celebration of St. Patrick's Day, a Catholic holy day. In 1959, Walt Disney released a film called Darby O'Gill & the Little People, which introduced America to a very different sort of leprechaun than the cantankerous little man of Irish folklore. This cheerful, friendly leprechaun is a purely American invention, but has quickly evolved into an easily recognizable symbol of both St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in general.

2 comments:

Rachelle said...

interesting information! i love good ol walt disney!!
hey i just saw alicia on sunday and she has a blog too. you can see cute pics of her boys: murrayphillips.blogspot.com

Melissa said...

oh yay! thanks rachelle. i need to get in touch with her.
i know, i LOVE walt! i'm the biggest disney lover there is!