| Country Study - Ireland
 Ireland certainly lives up to its nickname, the "Emerald Isle". It's unbelievably green, with expanses of rolling fields and hills, lush vegetation under foot, and colorful gardens. No wonder there's so many Irish legends with rainbows and sparkling leprechauns. Who knows what magic your kids may find as you travel through Ireland .
- The capital city of Ireland is Dublin.
- It has 32 counties.
- The Irish (Gaelic) word for Ireland is Eire. The Irish (Gaelic) language evolved from Celtic immigrants around 600 BC.
- The first to bring the English language to Ireland were the Normans. English was adopted as the main language in the late eighteenth century.
- In 432 AD St. Patrick arrived to help convert the pagan Gaelic Kings to Christianity. St. Patrick’s day (March 17 th ) is a national holiday in Ireland.
- King Henry VIII (of England) declared himself King of Ireland in 1541 AD. He was the first English monarch to do this.
- The Irish Parliament was granted independence from England in 1782 AD.
- The Irish flag has three vertical strips in green, white and orange. The green represents the older Gaelic people, the orange represents the Protestants (under William of Orange) and the white represents the peace between the two groups.
- The harp and the small harp were main historical musical instruments of Ireland.
- Legends and Irish tales are an essential part of the culture. Oral story telling is such an important part of the tradition.
St. Patrick's Day - March 17th
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 Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and who was St. Patrick? Here are some quick facts to use when talking with your Juniors about St. Patrick’s Day.
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St. Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland.
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He was credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland.
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St. Patrick described himself as “most humbled minded man.”
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St. Patrick is most noted for driving the snakes from Ireland. Ireland has never had snakes, but this is meant to symbolize the evils of pagan worshippers.
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He converted many warrior chiefs and princes and baptizing them and thousands of their subjects in “Holy wells.”
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St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world in many countries. In Ireland most all businesses close with the exception of restaurants and pubs.
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Many large Irish communities in the United States celebrate with “wearing of the green,” music, song, and Irish food.
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Try making gold coin cookies. Tie in with the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. To make gold cookies, take two Ritz crackers and put peanut butter in between them and then dip them in butterscotch chips that you have melted, then place on wax paper. Kids love them!!
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Make some baked scones. It is very simple. Combine 2 C. self-rising flour, ½ C. milk, 3 T. butter or margarine, and a dash of salt. Flour up a clean table and then roll and kneed the dough. You can use cookie cutters to cut the scones. Bake 425 degrees for 12-15 min. Great with jam or jelly!
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Play hiding the shamrock. Cut out shamrocks from of construction paper. Write each Junior Grange Member’s name on a shamrock. Hide the shamrocks in the hall or outside. Each Junior should try to find their own shamrock and maybe you could award candy gold coins as rewards.
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Green food coloring goes a long way! Try making all of your food green. Eat green eggs and ham and then read the story green eggs and ham. To make green eggs, just add a little bit of food coloring to them before you scramble. To make "green ham" soak your ham overnight in water in the refrigerator with green food coloring.
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Make Leprechaun punch, by filling a punch bowl with 7 up and adding scoops of lime sherbet. As the sherbet melts, it turns the soda green. Make green shamrocks, prepare a batch of Rice Krispie treats, and add green food coloring to the marshmallows before you add the cereal and use a shamrock mold (you can buy them at craft stores).
Irish Soda Bread
 Ingredients:
3 C. All-purpose flour
2 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. Salt
½ C. Sugar
1 ½ C. Buttermilk
¾ C. Raisins
2 Eggs
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Combine dry ingredients
- Mix eggs and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients. Add raisins and mix.
- Pour dough onto lightly floured surface and kneed 15 times.
- Shape the dough into a round loaf.
- Place on a lightly greased pan.
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Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
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