It’s been a good St. Patrick’s season but as always there have been some weird and wacky events too. Here are some of our favorites.
1. Tears From a Speaker
Speaker of the House John Boehner cried during a song by an Irish tenor at the annual St.Patrick’s luncheon on Capitol Hill. Boehner cries at the drop of a hat apparently.
2. Largest Irish America sign ever
A trio of Dublin artists have created the largest Irish America sign in America in Fort Smith Arkansas. No I don’t know why.
3. Battle of the Leprechauns
Bandon County Cork and a town in Donegal fought over who would have the most people in leprechaun outfits on St. Patrick’s Day for the Guinness Book of Records. Bandon won with over 1,200. No word on how many pots of gold were found.
4. Henry VIII returns
He is now almost as famous as his namesake. President Obama’s eighth cousin Henry Healey from Moneygall in Tipperary ended up in the White House a few times during St.Patrick’s week as the president embraced his irish heritage and called cousin Henry to come over and join him.
5. Help --It snowed on our parade-- in California
The weather was delightful on the East Coast but in sunny California, most notably the town of Murphys, it snowed on their parade for the second year in a row upsetting the locals greatly. Murphys was one of the original Gold Rush towns started by two Wicklow brothers.
6. The ‘Irish Car Bomb made me do it’ defense
Jurors in polo tycoon Polo Tycoon John Goodman's manslaughter trial for killing a man while driving drunk boiled down to whether he drank "Irish car bombs" and "mind eraser" cocktails the night he plowed into Scott Wilson's car.
7. Irish and Italians join forces
What’s this an Irish/Italian joint parade? Baton Rouge, Louisiana has joined the two great ethnic groups together for their annual parade and it seems to be working out swell. Only problem, after a few martinis or Guinness can you tell the flags apart?
8. Joe Biden made a bad Irish joke?
That’s news? Well Joe thought the Irish Prime Minister’s mother was dead when he spoke last year and she was very much alive. This year he told a silly joke about Irish being lubricated.
9. St. Patrick’s Day in April?
Yes, the St Bernard Parish St. Patrick’s parade in New Orleans kicks off on April 1st making it the latest in the country- and no April fool jokes please . Seems they have a dandy delayed day and lots of fun and good spirit. Maybe they should hold Mardi Gras on Wednesday.
10. Guinness held biggest Pat’s party ever
Just short of 500,000 signed up on line for the world’s largest St. Patrick’s Party. If every one of them hoisted a pint of the black stuff it would stretch from here to--- well--how about the Guinness brewery.
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