A Gaelic phrase meaning “May you fall without rising” which could have been coined only for tonight. My love for all things Irish began in the mid-1990s when I discovered the cave-like Murphy’s on Green St. (UIUC) and that dark elixir of strength and vitality. It also helps when every person of Irish descent I have met knows how to have a good time and holds this ability in extremely high esteem. Never mind the Irish party-poopers; don’t forget we have our own.
I close with the obligatory Irish joke:
The Martini Caper
McQuillan walked into a bar and ordered martini after martini, each time
removing the olives and placing them in a jar. When the jar was filled with
olives and all the drinks consumed, the Irishman started to leave.
“S’cuse me,” said a customer, who was puzzled over what McQuillan had done. “What was that all about?”
“Nothin’,” said the Irishman; “my wife just sent me out for a jar of olives!”
Ceoil agus Craic!
A good friend from grad school (and the first Irish person I got to know) was genuinely surprised to discover that some people buy liquor by the bottle.
He had assumed people always buy cases, like he did, of all liquors “so much cheaper, why doesn’t everyone do it”. He threw the best parties, doubtless.