Did you remember to wear green today? I hope so as today the Luck o' the Irish is upon you. Our Irish celebration actually started with last nights dinner. All Irish! Corned Beef and Cabbage as well as soda bread. But then again my family is mostly Irish. Hagarty was originally O'Hegarty. The O was dropped when my ancestors came to America and then the spelling of Hagarty was actually changed several times. As a matter of fact my dad's birth certificate has it spelled 4 different ways.

I was able to find our family crest/coat of arms. Here is some interesting information. So, I am not sure what the tree means. The only thing I can think of is possibly farming as I know some of my family were farmers. I did find out that the red stands for Warrior, Martyr, & Military Strength and the white stands for Serenity & Peace. The Doves are a symbol of Love & Peace. In Ireland the Dove is regarded as the Bird of God. The Shield is the Chief which represents Dominion, Authority, Wisdom, & Achievement in Battle. I know my dad has a book with all the meanings, etc. He is very big into genealogy and I am sure he could give me lots of information about the meanings of our name and origins of our family.

So, St. Patrick as you may know is one of the most well known figures in Christianity. The modern day holiday is based on the original feast day which is also believed to be the date of his death. The holiday has been celebrated here in the US by Irish immigrants as early at 1737 and now by most everyone.

I have not been lucky enough to travel to Ireland, but I am hopeful that one day I will. In the meantime here is a video of how the Irish (in Ireland) celebrate today! Happy St. Patty's Day!