St Patrick's Day and the Rainy Day
The weather in Dublin will be typical for the day that's in it: "Continuing overcast, cool and windy with scattered outbreaks of light rain or drizzle." In other words, perfect for going to Rome, where it's going to be a sunny 16C and where Ireland will take on Italy in the Six Nations rugby "final". Eccitare!
If you like it a little hotter, Kingston, Jamaica, is the place to be. They're giving thundery showers and a high of 28C. This might suit Pakistan a bit better than the Irish, who will be making their second ever appearance in a Cricket World Cup game, but following Thursday's historic tie with Zimbabwe, Ireland will be confident of upsetting the wicket. (Is that a proper cricketing term? Ed.)
Meanwhile, they're expecting great craic, snow and a high of minus 3C in New York City for the daddy of all Paddy parades. It's a great day for the Irish.
Talking of the Irish and alcohol... A Rainy Day ritual on St Patrick's Day is to put on "40 Years of Irish Piping" by the late, great Seamus Ennis. He kicks off with a magnificent set of reels, "The Merry Blacksmith, The Rainy Day and The Silver Spear", and his playing is balm for the spirit.
Ennis was an alcoholic. The disease brought misery to his family, it shortened his life and it ruined his music, which makes his achievements as performer, collector and broadcaster all the more remarkable. When one thinks of what he did when drunk, one wonders what he might have accomplished when sober. Don't know what condition he was in when he recorded the jig selection "Piper Of The Embers, Down The Back Lane, Sixpenny Money and Paudeen O'Rafferty", but there is no more sublime recording of his playing than this. The rhythm, the energy, the rush of music… Here we have the complete master of the instrument in the full flow of his genius.
Seamus Ennis was incomparably Irish: Idiosyncratic, charming, eccentric, paranoid, sensitive, intelligent, delusional, human. He's our St Patrick's Day poster boy.
