Ruth Chesney

I had a wonderful childhood growing up at the foot of Slemish, the mountain to which, according to legend, Saint Patrick was brought after he was captured and became a slave. We loved climbing the small rock and heather-covered mountain as children, and we couldn’t slide back down the steep, muddy slopes until we’d each had a turn sitting in what we called Saint Patrick’s chair – a missing section from a large, flat-topped stone. It wasn’t only local people who visited the mountain, however. Each 17 th  March, Saint Patrick’s Day, hordes of people descended on our area in cars, buses, and even walking the ten or so miles from the nearest town. From our garden, we were able to see the climbers as small specks silhouetted against the spring sky. Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations vary widely throughout the world. In Chicago, a city where many residents claim Irish ancestry, the Chicago River is turned green. Saint Patrick’s Day parades are held in obvious places such as Dublin and Belfast,