My Day...

Today, is the feast day of Saint Hilary - the patron saint of snake bite victims. Alot of people seem to think that's ironic, what with me being a native of the land famous for it's lack of snakes.

I was actually named after St. Hilary, although my father will argue that I was named after Dr. Paddy Hillery the then President of Ireland (this annoys my mother no end, which is why I think he says it). But to some people in Ireland any member of the Fianna Fail party is a saint.....

It has been pointed out to me that St. Hilary is man. I have always been perfectly aware of this fact, but Hilary is one of those unisex names, it can be applied to boys and girls. So there, I'll have no more on that discussion now!

My mother always tells how the priest was refusing to christen me. In Catholic Ireland many priests would refuse to christen a child that was not being named after a saint. The priest had no knowledge of my namesake and could find no mention of him. But my mother persevered saying the name appeared in her bible at home, threatening to go home and get it, to prove the saint existed and get me christened. The priest didn't have time for this. You see, he was an ardent GAA fan, and Clare were playing Tipperary in a hurling match later that day - in Tipperary. Not to risk being late for the match the priest put the argument aside and christened me. So, basically I was christened thanks to the GAA. How many people can say that :-)

But the important thing to remember is... today is my day!