This year St. Valentine’s Day falls on Tuesday, 14th February 2023.

Celebrate the love with these fun Irish facts!

💚 #HappyValentinesDay”

 

Claddagh Rings

Claddagh, in County Galway, is the birthplace to the Claddagh Ring – symbolizing love, loyalty and friendship, represented by the heart, the crown, and the hands.

Looking for love? It is worn on the right hand with the heart facing outward.  For those married, it is worn on the left hand with the heart facing inwards.

It is the ultimate symbol of love everlasting.

Shrine of St. Valentine

In 1835, an Irish Carmelite, John Spratt was visiting Rome. He received many tokens of esteem, one was the remains of Saint Valentine. The remains arrived in Dublin and were brought in solemn procession to Whitefriar Street Church where they were received by Archbishop Murray of Dublin. Today, the Shrine is visited throughout the year by couples who come to pray to St. Valentine and to ask him to watch over them in their lives together.

Leap Day Proposals

 

 

Handfasting Ceremonies

People nowadays choose to exchange wedding rings during ceremonies. But in ancient Celtic traditions, there were several means of promising to love and honour your new spouse before you tie the knot.

Handfasting entailed the pair clasping hands and tying them together with a ribbon or rope. Handfasting tradition in Ireland is resurfacing and becoming more frequent in wedding ceremonies.

 

 

Irish Romantic Poets

Ireland has some of the most romantic poets in history – think W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wild and Seamus Heaney to name but a few…

One of our favourites is “When You are Old” by W.B. Yeats:

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
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