Fantastic and Fun St. Patrick’s Day Stories for Children

St. Patrick’s Day is fast approaching and what a great time to get some books all about Leprechauns, St. Patrick and the Irish!

Every little child and every big one too enjoys hearing about the tales of different countries.  Ireland is no different, with all its magical creatures like trolls and fairies and leprechauns!   What’s not to like in all the tall tales that get told and retold? I can remember as a young child, wanting nothing more than to be Irish at least on that one day of the year, March 17th, St. Patty’s Day.

Leprechauns are feisty little characters that get into mischief. They aren’t bad characters, but they are a little naughty. If you manage to catch a leprechaun you are indeed lucky. Catching one of these fine fabled characters will often get you 3 wishes and maybe just maybe a bit of Irish gold. But be careful, they are likely to tie your shoe laces in knots or replace your shoelaces with green ones. There may just be a sprinkling of green glitter in your hair and who knows what other delightful pranks will happen as morning breaks. Maybe some of Dr. Suess’s green eggs and ham will be on the breakfast table. Who knows? Anything is possible.

Truth be told, there are many stories that involve leprechauns, rainbows, and pots of gold! Are they true? Well,  every Irish person I know will tell you they are all true. Everyone knows that the Irish don’t tell lies, but they may tell a tall tale or two!

Not only did I want to be Irish for that day and more, but it seemed even most of the Italian kids I grew up with wanted to be Irish too!

Irish Folklore and Parades

There is so much folklore around St. Patrick’s Day, it hasn’t lost its charm over the years.  When immigrants first started arriving in America, there was a large contingent of Irish who made much of New York City their home.  Even the cathedral in New York was built over time largely by the Irish Catholics who immigrated and now called the USA home. In the census of 2013 approximately 33 million Americans had expressed their roots to be of Irish descent. That’s more than on the island of Ireland, whose population is roughly 6.3 million people.

Little bits of Ireland in the USA

St. Patrick’s Day is the one day of the year where it really doesn’t matter where you or your family originated.  You are all honorary Irishmen/women on the 17th of March.  All that’s required of you is the donning of the color green and a smile! Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. You will see many Tshirts and much green from socks to pants and whole costumes dedicated to being Irish in way shape or color. Kiss Me I’m Irish will be plastered on many a button worn this day. The colors of the Irish Flag will also be seen all around town. And of course the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade featuring many bands and kilts, and pipes and drums.

Saint Patrick’s Day is one of those holidays that everyone enjoys. From specialty foods to green beer and lots of laughter and fun, it is a holiday that just needs to be celebrated everywhere. Anyone with a good heart and a wink in their eye can participate and enjoy the delights of the day.

Even though my background is not Irish, I know that I will be making corned beef and cabbage for dinner that night. It is a ritual that we enjoy and the food is good too. One of my best friends is Irish and taught me how to make scones like from scratch. So our breakfast on St. Patrick’s day morning will be scones with fresh butter and preserves, all hand made.

Here’s the recipe for the scones, just in case you want to try your hand at the Irish in you!

Irish Scone Recipe:
Traditional Irish Scones
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
35 mins
Total time
55 mins

Author: Avoca Hand weavers Cook Book
Serves: 12
Ingredients
3 ½ cups (1 lb/ 16oz ) Flour (all purpose/plain)
5 level tsp Baking powder
1 Generous pinch Of salt
¼ cup (2 oz/60g) white sugar
1 stick (4 oz/ 125g) cold salted Butter,
1 Whole egg
2 oz Double cream
7 oz whole milk
Milk to glaze
Instructions
In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients together
Rub in the cold butter with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.
If adding dried fruit eg. Raisins, berries, citrus rind, chocolate chips add them now before you add liquid
Mix your egg with the milk and cream and pour into your flour mix (if you don’t have cream you can use only milk)
With an open hand mix loosely your scone mix until your dough forms. The bowl should be clean from the dough
Turn your dough onto a floured work surface
Knead lightly to give your dough a smooth surface
Pat your dough down with your hand until around 1 inches thick
With a scone cutter cut out your lovely little scones. You will have around 12
Put on a baking tray, glaze the tops of your scones with some milk to give them a golden top when baked
Bake at 350oF (18OoC) for 35 minutes.
Enjoy with Irish butter, jam and freshly whipped cream.  Scones are best eaten the day they are baked but the next day you can pop them back in the oven to freshen them up again.
This is the same recipe my friend has given me taken from:
http://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/traditional-irish-scones/

Or you can watch her make these scones on her YouTube Channel right here:

 

I tell you there is nothing like being Irish on St. Patrick’s Day from early in the morning right through to the evening hours. Happy St. Patty’s Day to you and yours.