2020 Keeper of the Shamrock Cloth: St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans

Hello, readers! Today I'm bringing the luck of the Irish to the table, along with a little history to share in the details.

First, there's a background story of my vintage shamrock table topper used today. The cloth has been traveling among bloggers since 2010, when Marigene of In the Middle of Nowhere used it. She then sent it on to Kathleen of Cuisine Kathleen, who hosted a St. Patrick's Day blog crawl for a number of years. Marigene's stipulation was for the cloth to then be sent to another blogger each year to make an annual appearance. In 2013, Rett of the Gazebo House was the first recipient after Kathleen. In 2014, Mary of Home is Where the Boat Is added the little leprechaun to the fun, and he's been traveling with the shamrock cloth ever since!

Below is the sequence of keepers of the cloth since Mary's post in 2014. Each of the bloggers' posts (as well as those previously mentioned above) are linked to their original posts sharing the cloth.

2015 Sarah of Hyacinths for the Soul

2016 Kitty of Kitty's Kozy Kitchen

2017 Debbie of Mountain Breaths

2018 Jenna of the Painted Apron

2019 Pam of Everyday Living

Pam contacted me a couple months ago asking for my address, and I became the 2020 Keeper of the Cloth! Can you believe this is now its tenth year?! I was totally up for the tablescaping challenge. Shenanigans is in my Irish ancestry!

I played around with dishes on hand, and decided on my Majolica dinner plates resting on Mackenzie-Childs Courtly Check chargers. The base cloth is a textured white cotton, and the shamrock topper is set on the diagonal. The white napkins are folded in the bishop's cap (as shown in this video, here), and rest upon Courtly Check napkin rings.

The bowls layered on the plate were purchased directly from Ireland. I love the Celtic knots on the outside (see leading photo in this post), as well as the single knot inside, surrounded by vines of tiny shamrocks. The Celtic knot is also part of the vintage cloth's motif, at each corner. Green stemware, flatware and little green mints complete each place setting.

A little more history on St. Patrick, Bishop and Patron Saint of Ireland: his historical imagery is that of a bishop (hence, the napkin fold); however, his history began in England, in the 5th Century. As a teen, Patrick (his name taken as a priest) was kidnapped from his family by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave, to herd and tend sheep (hence, the flock grazing on the table).  

Patrick escaped four years later, returned to Britain, became an ordained priest and, later, bishop. His mission led him back to Ireland, where he worked tirelessly for over 40 years, converting pagans to Christianity. He often used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. He died on March 17, 461.

What started as the "wearing of the green" - a cluster of shamrocks on the right breast to show Irish heritage and connectedness to St. Patrick - has, well, gotten a little out of hand as the years have gone by. Oh my....a little day drinking with the leprechaun could soon have the situation spiraling a bit out of control. Let the shenanigans begin!

As night falls, the more serious leprechaun (who's tending the sheep) tries to maintain control, while the shenanigator leprechaun jumps on the pedestal and goes full tilt on the sheep!

Oh boy! Looks like the shenanigator wants to take the serious guy for a ride....

Oh no! Now the shenanigator thinks he's a self-ordained bishop, donning the napkin hat!

Well, let's hope this night ends well, and that all the shenanigans don't end up with the shamrock table topper turned into a toga! How in the world would I explain that to next year's keeper of the cloth?! Speaking of next year, who will be the next keeper of the cloth?

All shenanigans aside, I'll close with the following Irish prayer. This little gem was something I picked up at an estate sale, originally purchased by the owner in his travels to Ireland. It is framed with wild, dried Irish flowers, and sits on my bedroom dresser.

Thank you for your visit today! I hope if you're a shenanigator this St. Patrick's Day, you survive all the fun and take the luck of the Irish with you each day.

St. Patrick's Day Shenanigans Source List

Table Topper, Shenanigator Leprechaun - vintage, traveling through the blogging years

Tablecloth - DKNY - HomeGoods

Majolica Plates, crystal tumblers, silver julep cups, white napkins, serious leprechaun, sheep - vintage finds (one sheep was gifted, new)
Celtic Bowls - Carrolls Irish Gifts

Chargers, napkin rings, small pedestal - MacKenzie-Childs

Green flatware - Horchow

Green Stemware - Dollar Tree

Slainte!

Rita C. at Panoply

(A special thank you to Kathy of A Delightsome Life's Home and Garden Thursday Link Party #38 and Amber of Follow the Yellow Brick Home's Thursday Favorite Things for featuring this post!)

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