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Shamrock shortage in Ireland sparks St. Pat's fears

PATRICK COOPER

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, March 14, 2010, 11:46 PM

Updated Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 11:19 AM

A shortage of shamrock has caused widespread concern in Ireland

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A severe shamrock shortage is threatening St. Patrick's Day in Ireland and the “wearing of the green," according to leading botanist Dr. Declan Doogue of the Royal Irish Academy.

The shamrock was “hit hard” by the severe winter weather and “won’t be easily found” this week, said Doogue, who also stated the national plant was under threat because of modern farming methods.

In its place, bogus shamrock plants are being used, he said, stating that he hoped the shamrock that President Obama would receive from Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen would be the real thing.

Doogue told the Irish Times that the shamrock was “only getting going” because, like other plants, its growing season had been “delayed by frost damage.”

Doogue also stated that modern farming methods and the loss of hay meadows had now “engulfed” the shamrock' natural territory, which was “a disaster.”

Doogue stated there were various bogus shamrock plants, but the real one was the Trifolium dubium (lesser trefoil), a type of clover found in “unimproved grassland” of which there is hardly any left in Ireland.

Doogue said modern farming methods and the loss of traditional hay meadows had “engulfed” the national plant’s territory, which was “a disaster from a wildlife point of view.”

Despite the loss of its habitat, he said the shamrock was resilient in parts of Ireland “in short grass and on waysides, even in some parts of Dublin.” It does best, he added, “in a sunny, free-draining site.”

Doogue stated that the bogus plant was actually growing in “lush grasslands” and was Trifolium repens (white clover). He stated that this was probably what most people would wear on Wednesday due to the difficulty in finding the real thing.

Another expert, Prof John Parnell, curator of the herbarium at Trinity College Dublin, said there was another bogus plant called Medicago lupulina (black medic), which has three green leaves but is not a clover, and was also “often sold and worn as shamrock.”

But the botanists sadly confirmed that shamrock was not “remotely exclusively Irish,” and can be found in Britain and throughout northwest Europe.

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Posted by theozzie on Mar 17, 2010, 06:05 PM EDT

In 1954 my great Aunt Mil visited Ireland and before she left to come back to Australia, she tucked a small piece of Shamrock in her bra and the descendents of this plant are still alive today. I know it was wrong of her to do it, however these shamrock plants have bought a lot of pleasure to our family over the years. I saw one in flower just the other day. They are in pots of course as our extreme weather would soon kill them. I guess though over the years they have become somewhat hardier due to our weather.

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Posted by GalacticCat on Mar 17, 2010, 11:20 AM EDT

What I think is dis... I wish you could smoke Shamrock. Just imagine the Eire Gov. trying to control all those stoned Irish people on St.Paddy's day.Way to go baby....

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Posted by MacLlyr on Mar 17, 2010, 10:22 AM EDT

Over and above the green, the shamrock got it's association, not because it's limited to Eire, but because St. Patrick used it as an illustration of the concept of Trinity when he was preaching Christianity to the Irish. And the egg and bunny bit with the spring festival derives from the Babylonians, not the Druids. They were the symbols of their fertility goddess, Eostre or Ishtar. Variant of that name got tacked onto the whole festival, even when the Christians grabbed it, rubbed off the serial numbers, and claimed it.

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Posted by kickstar on Mar 16, 2010, 10:58 PM EDT

More good old Druidish Paganism that celebrates the imminence of Spring celebrated by partying with flowers and green things in sprigs on your body, Yep Sun Worship Easter eggs and bunnies anything goes with the Romans as long as you pay your dues.

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Posted by kickstar on Mar 16, 2010, 10:48 PM EDT

Ahh Well being that Patrick was a Welshman kidnapped by Irish pirates Perhaps you could substitute a Leek instead of the Clover

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Posted by jacersisityourself on Mar 16, 2010, 06:44 PM EDT

I can verify this article’s contentions... there’s been no sign of the wee three-leaved plant of St.Patrick (not a clover) around in the fields I walk over. Mind you, that’s not surprising... I see the snowdrop and purple whatcha'maycallit winter flowers have lasted longer than they should have (ok, so it was VERY cold for the last four months, usually we have three cold months) and worse, the daffodils haven’t bloomed yet... All flowers are a month behind in appearing. But hey, c’mere, the daff’s green leaves are shootin’ up straight and there’s a warm blustery wind blowing into Ireland tomorrow, St.Patrick’s Day (warmest day of this year so far forecast, 15 degrees C, 63F - forget your warm jackets at the parades). So maybe, just maybe, the yellow of the daff’s will sprout in their glory by lunchtime on St. Patricks’ Day. So will the fresh Shamrock. Pluck one if you see it in the fields or hedgerows, and wear it in privilege and thanks to St. Patrick that you've got the genuine article.

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