Irish Club of Alaska
  • HOME
  • EVENTS
    • IRISH HOLIDAY MARKET >
      • VENDOR APPLICATION
    • AN AFTERNOON IN IRELAND
    • GALWAY DAYS >
      • MAIN STAGE
      • WORKSHOPS
      • SPONSOR
      • GALWAY DAYS 2021 AND 2020 >
        • Galway Days Zoom Workshops
    • CHILDREN'S LÁ FÉILE
    • PAST EVENTS
  • JOIN
    • BECOME A MEMBER
    • BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP
    • ICA MEMBER ZONE
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT
    • CALENDAR
    • MISSION AND PURPOSE
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • USEFUL LINKS
    • PHOTOS
    • FOUNDERS
    • ICA BLOG
  • HOME
  • EVENTS
    • IRISH HOLIDAY MARKET >
      • VENDOR APPLICATION
    • AN AFTERNOON IN IRELAND
    • GALWAY DAYS >
      • MAIN STAGE
      • WORKSHOPS
      • SPONSOR
      • GALWAY DAYS 2021 AND 2020 >
        • Galway Days Zoom Workshops
    • CHILDREN'S LÁ FÉILE
    • PAST EVENTS
  • JOIN
    • BECOME A MEMBER
    • BUSINESS MEMBERSHIP
    • ICA MEMBER ZONE
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT
    • CALENDAR
    • MISSION AND PURPOSE
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
    • USEFUL LINKS
    • PHOTOS
    • FOUNDERS
    • ICA BLOG
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

What's the Story?

Blog Posts from the Irish Club of Alaska

2/14/2022 0 Comments

The Irish-Valentine Connection

By Natalie Harrison

PictureWhitefriar Street Church (Wikimedia Commons)
When we think of Ireland, the holiday the holiday that comes to mind is St. Patrick’s Day. But did you know that Valentine’s Day also has an important connection to Ireland? In Dublin City Center, between the Swan Bar and the Embassy of Croatia, the rather unassuming looking Whitefriar Street Church holds the remains of Saint Valentine himself. 

​On February 14, 269 AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius ordered the beheading of Saint Valentine. His remains rested in Rome until the early 19th century when a loquacious Irish Carmelite priest named John Sprat visited Italy and enthralled the elite of Rome, including Pope Gregory XVI. The pope gifted the Irish priest an invaluable relic: part of Saint Valentine’s corporeal remains and a vial of his blood, together in a small box sealed with wax and tied with a white ribbon. Sprat brought the box back to Dublin’s Whitefriar Street Church in 1836, where they have remained ever since. 

The wax-sealed and ribbon-tied box are housed in a larger casket in the church, along with a statue of Saint Valentine. Since they were placed on display to the public in the 1950s, this Whitefriar Street Church shrine to the patron saint of lovers (and beekeepers and epilepsy) has been visited by throngs of engaged and married couples from around the world seeking blessings for their union. It has also been visited by even more unsuccessful singles desperately seeking a bit more success in their romantic pursuits, perhaps hoping the combination of the heart of Saint Valentine and the luck of the Irish will do the trick.

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Irish Club of Alaska!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Picture

Celebrating Irish culture and traditions and sharing with the world all that is uniquely Irish-Alaskan.

©2022, Irish Club of Alaska, P.O. Box 241854, Anchorage, AK 99524-1854
Irish Club of Alaska is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit organization exempt from federal tax under the United States Code, section 501c3.