Eire

Erin Go Bragh! And Don’t Forget The Shamrocks!

Hey guys,

Got back from the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities in the United States.

After New York City, Savannah is a close second when it comes to the best that St. Patty’s has to offer.

On a quick side note, St. Patrick’s Day is an official holiday in Ireland, but not necessarily the official drinking day it is here in the U.S. of A.

But back to Savannah, Georgia: This city of somewhere around 200,000 population has a long tradition celebrating everything Irish.

This year’s parade was its 187th and there are quite a number of citizens of Irish heritage.

On the Eve of St. Patrick’s Day I was able to witness several bands of bag-pipers face off. It was absolutely mesmerizing.

These guys come from as far away as NYC, Boston and even the Emerald Isle, aka Ireland!

We didn’t celebrate into the wee hours, because we had to be at Calhoun Square by 5:30 a.m. and that meant getting up at 4:15 a.m.!

Why so early if the parade doesn’t start until 10 in the morning?

Traditions are strong here, which means securing your curbside spot at 6 a.m. to set up your chairs, gazebos and all your goodies. And that means a lot of food and drinks with friends and family.

The parade was amazing and went for around 4 1/2 hours. What a great experience thanks to our newly found friends and life-long Savannahians.

I guess everybody makes the connection between Irish and their national symbol, the three-leaf clover or shamrock.

The shamrocks I want to remember today are former UFC fighters and brothers, Ken and Frank, who are legendary in their own right.

Let’s start with Ken Shamrock (UFC Hall of Famer), who was the first Superfight Ultimate Champion before the title was renamed to Heavyweight Champion.

During his reign this one-time professional wrestler was considered the world’s best mixed martial artist and even today he is still considered one of the best fighters of all time.

Ken Shamrock is the older adopted brother of former UFC champion, Frank Shamrock.

At one time known as “The World’s Most Dangerous Man”, Ken Shamrock is also the founder of one of the most successful MMA camps, “The Lion’s Den”.