Ireland

St. Patrick’s Day is nearly here, but you don’t have to be Irish to appreciate the holiday. In fact, everyone is at least a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!

I think it is easy to fall into the habit of romanticizing Ireland - imagining the green hills, dancing leprechauns and pots of gold, enchanting accents, and charming small towns. But there is far more to Ireland than the pretty picture Hollywood has painted for us. Fortunately, Ireland has a number of well-respected movie producers, directors, screenwriters, and actors striving to show the rest of the world the Ireland they know. It is not always the idyllic picture we expect, but it is brimming with history and passion.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m especially fond of this holiday because I do have more than a little Irish blood, something that an inordinate number of people in the U.S. can claim. In fact, it seems that, on March 17, everyone claims to be Irish. Why else would they be chugging all the green beer?

In choosing these movies, I decided to concentrate on the romantic image that we have of Ireland and why we have fun celebrating every St. Paddy’s Day.