Ireland quatrefoil. What is the symbol of Northern Ireland? Celtic harp - the national symbol of Ireland in photographs

I was interested in Irish fairy tales, there clover is mentioned quite often, and endowed magical properties, so love for this flower has been in Ireland since time immemorial. There are a few interesting versions, explaining why the symbol of Ireland is the shamrock, one of them is based on the legend of St. Patrick, the patron saint of the Irish people.

The Legend of Saint Patrick and the Shamrock

As you know, St. Patrick preached Christianity in Ireland, and, explaining the complex dogma of the Holy Trinity, demonstrated this concept to the Celts on the petals of a shamrock. Three petals - by analogy - three separate representatives of the Holy Trinity, but at the same time they are united together into one leaf - united in three persons.

This fact is not in the saint’s records, but the first mention was found in written sources after a thousand s extra years, so the legend causes a lot of controversy regarding its authenticity, but original version got accustomed.

Symbol of independence

They experienced the full brunt of colonization when the British began to encroach on their territory and freedom. Religious differences between the two peoples also did not contribute to mutual affection: the Irish were ardent Catholics, the British were Protestants. Fighting for their independence, Irish rebels pinned a clover leaf on their clothes as a badge of honor.

As you know, the struggle ended in defeat, but the shamrock firmly entered the consciousness of the Irish people as a symbol of freedom and independence of Ireland. A couple of interesting facts from those troubled times:

1. During the time of Cromwell, the English contemptuously called the rebels shamrock mens, that is, “creeping clover,” but the popularity of the plant only intensified, and its petals increasingly began to appear on the coats of arms of noble Irishmen.
2. In 1708, on St. Patrick's Day, a group of people with a shamrock banner in their hands destroyed the English quarter in Dublin. Since then, the flag with the image of a clover began to be called “shamrock”, and the shamrock became a recognized and popular symbol of Ireland.

By the way, St. Patrick's Day is a favorite in Ireland folk holiday. Everyone puts on green clothes with a shamrock on them or a leaf decoration, waves shamrock flags and has fun.

Throughout the world, the clover plant is known as a symbol of the island of Ireland, attributed to St. Patrick, who used the plant in the 5th century to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity to Irish Catholics. Clover was one of the sacred plants of the ancient Celts and it was only centuries later that it became associated with St. Patrick, the patron and protector of the island. Saint Patrick was an ardent believer of the Christian religion and wanted to convey the word about God to the people of Ireland. Here the clover has succeeded with its three edges to represent the Son, Father and Holy Spirit. The three properties of theology found in the Bible are faith, love and hope. This way of teaching the Christian faith seems to have taken hold in the community.

The first iconographic documents that indicate the use of clover by saints date back to 1600.

St. Patrick's Day Tradition

This plant is used as a hair decoration on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day. The tradition of St. Patrick's Day hasn't changed much from 1700 to today! At the end of the festival, the Irish performed a ritual. Clover was removed from hair or hats and placed in a glass with the last sip of whiskey.

There is another theory that suggests the first use of clover in the Irish tradition. In 1571, Edmund Campion, a noted English scholar of the Elizabethan era, wrote that clover in Ireland was commonly used as food. In fact, the Irish didn't eat clover, but they did eat sorrel. A plant similar to clover. It was used in pharmacies and in medieval cuisine as a seasoning to flavor dishes. IN scientific literature One can find numerous supposed Irish customs for the clover plant.

Clover as a symbol of the struggle for independence

Since the 18th century, clovers have been adopted as a symbol of Ireland's struggle for independence. It is currently the symbol of several battalions of the British Army such as the Irish Guards and the Royal Irish Regiment. Wearing clover on military or civilian clothing became a sign of national pride.

• The uniform chosen by Prince William for his wedding to Kate Middleton is the Irish Guards uniform. On the prince's collar you can see two white embroideries in the shape of a clover!
• The shamrock has also become a symbol of numerous organizations, clubs and sports teams such as: National airline Aer Lingus, Irish Football Association (Northern Ireland), Irish National Rugby Team, Irish Farmers' Association, Shamrock Rovers ( football club Dublin).
• The official symbol of Ireland is the Celtic harp, but the clover also has special meaning For the Irish, it is so often associated with a green island, more than Marfa.

Treasures and relics of the British Crown Maryana Vadimovna Skuratovskaya

Shamrock - Ireland

Shamrock - Ireland

“Now we three Stuarts,” he said, “are as inseparable as the sacred shamrock.” They say that whoever carries this sacred herb with him has no power over him. evil spell, so we, as long as we are faithful to each other, are not afraid of the treachery of our enemies.

Walter Scott. Perth beauty

Unlike the proud Tudor rose and thistle, and the more humble leek, the shamrock is not so much the official emblem of Ireland as its unofficial symbol. The official one is the Irish harp. Both the harp and the shamrock can be seen on the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.

It’s easier to say where you can’t find an image of a green “three-leaf” leaf of a white clover... And on St. Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland, it’s just everywhere.

Since ancient times, the shamrock has been revered as a sacred plant, and then, already in the Christian era, it became a symbol of the Holy Trinity - they say that it was with its help that St. Patrick explained its essence to people. “Just as three leaves can grow from one stem, so God can be one in three persons.” And with the help of a shamrock cross, he managed to kill all the snakes in Ireland. True... this is apparently not true. IN historical documents Regarding St. Patrick, nothing is said about the shamrock.

The first mention of the relationship between the revered saint in the country and the shamrock dates back to 1726 - in a book on the field plants of Ireland by Dr. Caleb Trekeld. There is a mention of the tradition of wearing a shamrock on a saint’s day in a poem published in 1689, so, apparently, this custom is not that old, and it began around the end of the 17th century (before that they wore “crosses” made of green ribbons, St. Patrick's crosses).

In addition, there were debates about what a “real” shamrock is, what kind of plant it is - clover, and if clover, then which one. Or maybe it’s some kind of sorrel?

No wonder the Irish tried to defend their beloved shamrock and the customs associated with it! Here is what one of the authors of the Dublin Penny Journal wrote: “Other countries can, like us, be proud of their shamrock. But nowhere in all the land, be it on the mainland or on the island, is there enough of this juicy grass to properly fatten sheep. Both in winter and in summer, our limestone hills are covered with a green carpet, which becomes even greener from the fogs floating from the Atlantic. Shamrocks are everywhere. Throw a pebble on the top of a mountain or in the middle of a swamp, and a shamrock will immediately grow. When Saint Patrick drove all poisonous creatures (except people) from his mountain, a shamrock grew from his footprints. And if the readers of your magazine climb to the top of this most beautiful of mountains in Ireland, they will see that the shamrock still grows there, turning its honey-bearing flowers to the wind from the west. I confess that I have no patience with the impudent Englishmen who want to make us believe that this dear plant, associated with our religious passions and passion for having fun, is not the favorite plant of St. Patrick, and who want to sell it to us as a symbol of our faith and our nationality this small, sour, frail sorrel! It's all that stubborn, prim Saxon, Mr. Beechenr. Although Keogh, Trecald and other Irish botanists claim that the shamrock is trifolium repens[white clover]. And Trekeld writes: “People wear the shamrock on their hats every year on March 17th (this is St. Patrick’s Day). Now it is generally accepted that with the help of a shamrock he explained to them the mystery of the Holy Trinity.” True, when they “drown the shamrock,” they often overindulge in alcohol, which is not appropriate to do on a holy holiday! The English also refer to the testimony of Spencer, another Saxon, who in his “Description of Affairs in Ireland” [the poet Edmund Spencer published a pamphlet on the situation in Ireland in 1596] writes that if the Irish manage to find a clearing with clover or watercress, then This is a real feast for them. He also quotes one English satirist, a certain Witt, who writes with ridicule about those “who dress in capes and, like the Irish, eat clover.”

But we are not so easy to overcome, Mr. Sachs! We Irish are not inclined to part with our favorite plant at your request! Yes, in difficult times the Irish could try to satisfy their hunger with clover, as happened two years ago when we ate seaweed - because hunger will break even a stone wall. But don't the Welsh decorate their hats with leeks on St David's Day? And sometimes they eat their hot leek, as Shakespeare wrote, either as an insult or as a seasoning [one of the heroes of the play “Henry V” cannot stand leek, and another, a Welsh patriot, defends the honor of his symbol with a club in his hands]. So there is no shame in the Irishman, if he already feels this strange state called hunger, to chew clover! For that matter, when I go to spend time in good company, I would prefer that my breath smells of honey grass than that I smell of garlic! But the Welshman does not live on leeks alone, any more than the poor Irishman lives on clover. Because, undoubtedly, neither one nor the other is nutritious. But to Mr. Bicheno's credit, he has another argument in favor of the fact that the favorite plant in this country is the oxalis, and this argument is much more to the taste of the Irish. He says that a bunch of sorrel is a much better substitute for lemon than clover. There really is something in this - if anything is suitable, it would be sorrel. But let the Saxon do what he can. Even in his own territory, even in London, he will find it very difficult to convince our fellow tribesmen living in the St. Giles area [a poor area where immigrants from Ireland lived] that oxalis acetosella, this small, sour, frail sour is a fitting emblem for Ireland. No really. I'd like some clover, please. Green shamrock!

This short essay captures the essence of the relationship between Ireland and the shamrock. He's his own. "Irish".

This small, tenacious plant, which, according to legend, warded off evil and could help with snake bites or warn of an impending storm, became a hero folk songs. Brides put it in their bouquet. It was worn on hats, and later on clothes, not only by the Irish, but also by those who wanted to show their affection for them - even King George IV wore a hat with a shamrock during his visit to Dublin (and, of course, the Irish could not resist composed another satirical song about this).

But there are much more serious and sad moments in his story. In 1798, the song “Wearing Green” appeared, which lamented the ban on “wearing green”, in particular wearing a shamrock on a hat. In 1798, a revolt against English rule broke out in Ireland... It was brutally suppressed a few months later, and two years later Ireland became part of the United Kingdom. Rebels could be hanged for wearing the sign. The shamrock became not just a symbol, but a nationalistic symbol.

Unsurprisingly, Irish units of the British Army were prohibited from wearing the shamrock, a ban only lifted by Queen Victoria when the Irish regiments made their mark during the second Boer War (1899–1902). True, many Irish considered it a mockery to wear the sign of Ireland on an English military uniform.

But be that as it may, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was no longer only the Irish who willingly wore shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day. The number of those who celebrated this day with them grew every year... And is still growing.

Yes, the green shamrock has become the symbol of the Green Island. As the song “Wearing Green” sang, “When the laws can stop the grass from growing, and the leaves dare not show their color in summer, then I will change the color I wear on my hat. But until then, God help me, I will wear green.”