IT'S A GRAND DAY FOR THE IRISH; EVERYBODY'S IRISH ON ST. PAT'S DAY

Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

And who wouldn't want to be? Who but the Irish possess the gift of gab, the blessing of blarney and the sheer genius for alternately charming the socks off and infuriating to apoplexy their friends, enemies and anybody else who happens to wander by?

Today's a day to raise a glass or two to those who can trace their roots -- whether it's just a strand or two or a whole forest -- across the water to Ireland.

Rita Doherty Nenninger, 49, has lived in Cape Girardeau with her husband, Charles, for the last 13 or 14 years, but she's from Londonderry in Northern Ireland.

The Nenningers actually lived in Northern Ireland for several years, and their son, Lawrence, now 17, was born there.

"We came over here when he was three, so he didn't remember much of it," Nenninger said.

The family returned for a visit two years ago.

"I think I miss the scenery the most," she said. "I think when I lived there, I didn't really appreciate it. Since I've moved away, I've thought more about how pretty it is."

There's a song called "Forty Shades of Green" about Ireland's countryside, Nenninger said, "and it's a true song. They do have 40 shades of green. When we were landing at the airport, you could see almost that many."

Nenninger says Ireland could learn a thing or two from the United States about throwing a St. Patrick's Day party.

"I think in fact they celebrate more over here than they do there," she said. "In Ireland, you wear your shamrocks and you go to church and that's about it. It's no big occasion like it is here. It's well-celebrated over here."

John Bradshaw, 73, looks Irish. He sounds Irish, too, and that's not surprising because his father, Patrick, came from Ireland to New York in 1883, about the same time his maternal grandfather came over from County Tipperary, also in Ireland.

Bradshaw, now a Cape Girardeau attorney, has been to Ireland three times researching his roots, but it hasn't been easy.

Patrick, who died when Bradshaw was about 10, was never too forthcoming about his origins, and Bradshaw isn't sure where exactly his father was born.

"Whenever he had to sign anything that asked where he was born, he just wrote Ireland," Bradshaw said.

But Bradshaw's a common name around Tipperary, and in fact, around the year 1200, a Robert Bradshaw was famous for defending, and nearly destroying, a castle near Tipperary that John P. Bradshaw visited.

"The keep is all that's left," he said. "It's a square tower."

According to the story, Robert Bradshaw was betrayed in one of Ireland's many famous feuds.

"He and his family were in the keep for the night, 'cause that's where you slept at night," Bradshaw said.

The enemy invaded the lodge house and Richard "came to stand at the base of the staircase to defend his family," he said.

After the fighting was over with, Richard sent his son to discharge some explosives and wound up blowing up the lodge house itself, Bradshaw said.

"I went up into the keep and looked around. There's actually a beautiful painting that shows a fellow going out to defend," he said. "That was kind of an experience to see that and realize all the monkey business that was going on then."

Official records in Ireland are haphazard; wars, fires and other disasters mean many haven't survived the century, and Bradshaw's father arrived only a few years before Ellis Island became a central point for immigrants in the United States.

"My father actually worked as a policeman in New York before someone realized he had some education," Bradshaw said. Patrick Bradshaw was able to get a management job with an office supply company, the kind of job not usually available to the Irish in those days.

"You had to be here long enough to have some connections," he said.

Barbara Barklage, 68, of Cape Girardeau has visited Ireland twice tracing her great-grandparents, Patrick and Bridget Curran.

Patrick Curran arrived in the United States in 1830, and Bridget made the trip over in 1832. They moved to Cape Girardeau in 1838.

"I'm not sure where they were in between," Barklage said.

The Currans are both buried in Old Lorimier Cemetery, as is their daughter, Mariah Curran Meyers, and her husband, David Meyers.

Patrick Curran worked farming land that belonged to St. Vincent's Seminary, and later purchased a house, still standing at Spanish and William, that had belonged to the seminary. Barklage lived in the house, now a bed and breakfast, until she was 5 years old.

"One of the big stories about him was that he went to California during the Gold Rush with Sebastian Albert," Barklage said. "The ship sank coming around the Horn, and everybody decided Patrick had died."

But about a year later, Bridget heard a knock at the door and there was Patrick.

Barklage isn't sure what happened or how Patrick got home. One account at the time said he sailed upriver from New Orleans.

"He came cross-country part of the way," she said. "What probably really happened is he stopped for a last one with his friends and missed the ship."

Barklage said she thought Patrick was from County Meath, "but it may have been Westmeath."

She's spent a couple of afternoons in the Dublin library looking for records, but again, resources are spotty.

"In the 1800s, they had a fire and most of the birth certificates they had burned up. So the only sources I have are church records, and since I'm not sure where Patrick was born, it's been difficult," she said.

Barklage does have a letter from Ann Mccormick to Ellen Geraghty, a cousin who was staying with Patrick and Ellen in 1847. The letter speaks of the suffering of the poor in Ireland and a plague of some kind, and was sent through Liverpool, a port city in England.

"The information that I have is that the family left from Liverpool," Barklage said.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Erin go braugh - Means "Ireland forever" in Gaelic.

Shamrock - St. Patrick used this three-leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity. It has become the symbol of Ireland.

Leprechaun - A mischievous elf of Irish folklore. According to legend, if captured, a leprechaun can be forced to reveal the hiding place of treasure if his captor watches him constantly.

Blarney, Blarney Stone - A stone in Blarney Castle, near Cork, Ireland, held to besto skill in flattery, the gift of Blarney, on those who kiss it.

St. Patrick (with photo of his grave in St. Patrick County, Ireland), the patron saint of Ireland, was responsible for bringing Christianity to Ireland.

Born in England in about 389, Patrick was captured by pirates when he was 16 years old and sold as a slave in Ireland. He escaped after six years, but dedicated his life to converting the Irish to Christianity.

Many stories about St. Patrick are based on legend. One of the best-known tales tells how he charmed the snakes of Ireland into the sea so they were drowned. He died in 461.