St Patricks Shamrock aint a clover

This instructional is designed to help everyone out there to not make the mistake of using a four leaf clover as a St Patricks Day symbol. The symbol you are all thinking about but dont know it is called a Shamrock. Heres how to spot the difference.

Step 1 What a Shamrock looks like

This is what a Shamrock looks like.
It has three leaves. Thats 3. not 4 or 2 or 792. Its 3.
Each of them are a very pretty heart shape. Thats a lotta love.
St Patrick used it to explain to the pagan Irish that God is a Holy Trinity. Three in one. Like this wee plant. Three leaves in one plant.
Simple.
We Irish caught on quickly to this explanation and thus stopped worshiping the moon, conjuring spirits and we all became Christian. Thanks Paddy.
The first guy that came along and tried to make us christian was swiftly killed a short while after arriving in Ireland. But Partick knew the old shamrock trick. We Irish like shamrocks.
To see what the first guy used and what ended up getting him killed :-P , look at the next step in this instructable.

Comments

[chlsands]

Ok. Correct. A four leaf clover is a luck thing and not a shamrock. But that’s the point I’m trying to make. It’s not a Shamrock. The instructable is to help folks get it right. Lots of people think they are one and the same. A wood sorrel is a Shamrock. A lesser trefoil is a shamrock. White clover (the white stripe mentioned) is a Shamrock. So what I pictured is a Shamrock. NOBODY knows the shamrock species St Patrick used although some claim to. One thing is certain. 4 Leaf clover isn’t a shamrock and its luck thing isn’t Irish either. You may as well put a fez on a leprechaun if you’re gonna use a 4LC for Ireland. And I think the world knows you won’t actually get killed for having a for leaf clover on your shirt in Ireland. In fact, as stated, you may score free beer so go ahead and wear one. Don’t get too paranoid, foreigners have a sense of humour too. The internationally recognised :-P features there also as a “this is humour” aid. So chill. Be cool. Happy St Patrick's day. I'll expect to see you all smiling. :-)

[skelloween]

It IS a shamrock. It's just a mutant that has 4 leaves instead of the usual three.

Btw, I live in Ireland and we regularly use 4 leaved shamrocks.

[lug big lug]

 Being part Irish, this is very interesting to listen to... But like Christmas, St. Patrick's Day has been perverted into a secular based "holiday". Even then it isnt a "holiday" because when broken down the word "holiday" turns into Holy Day. Just think about that...

[skelloween]

Shamrock means clover. End of... Little clover is not an accurate translation. The diminutive could be used because of a sense of endearment because it's a symbol of Ireland.

While it's true that here in Ireland, people pretty much call any kind of clover a shamrock, St Patrick's holy trinity example is a legend. It can't be proved or disproved so no one will ever know what type of shamrock he picked, but it is more likely to have been the common white clover. I've seen things on Paddy's day here that aren't even from the clover family being used (wood sorrel being one of them).

Use anything you want to celebrate Paddy's day! 4 leaf, 3 leaf, a wood sorrel (they're very attractive!) Paddy's day has gone beyond religion. For most people in Ireland it's just a way to celebrate the country, our friends and having a good time.

Have a good one! =^__^=

[treefrogs]

Haha! That's why I love the Irish :P

[chlsands]

Shamrock is directly translated from Irish Gaelic "Seamróg" as "little clover" which distinguishes it from regular clover. White clover is regular broad clover. The tradition is clear that St Paddy (not Patty) used a Seamróg not a Clover. If he had then the tradition would state a Seanmair. Anyways, the point still remains that for St Paddy’s day it’s a 3 leafed little clover used to represent the Holy trinity being three parts of the one whole. A four leafed clover can never do that. It’s a secularisation of the symbolism of God to luck.
I give up. The point of this instructable is just lost on some people. There are tonnes of little clovers and any one of them is correct. Who cares! The point is shamrock on Paddy’s day has 3 leaves and is not a four leaved clover. It isn’t that difficult to understand. Even to a doctor of botany fluent in Latin terms. In the Name of God and his 3 parts just go and have a Happy St Patricks Day!

[mumblingmatthew]

The shamrock is s a three-leafed old white clover. It is sometimes of the variety Trifolium repens   

Shamrock is clover

[becauseican]

many christians (myself included), do not feel that catholic made saints are not saints and only the apostles are saints.

[skipernicus]

Oh good. That really helps me understand the difference between different types of plants.

[57cadillac]

stop insulting the four leaf clovers

[Kel_McC]

Wait... iv lost what conclusion this argument came to. Isn't the shamrock, like you said above eg. white clover. So then are they not really the same thing, the shamrock being a type of clover. The four leaves that a (lucky) clover has is just a mutation of the plant and therefore a shamrock could have four too i suppose. But yeah you're right about St. Patrick using a three leaved shamrock to represent the Holy Trinity which is why it's used on St. Patricks day.

[hishealer]

Does anyone actually CARE anymore what this holiday is even about? Believe it or not, it's not about drinking! It was started in America as a way to raise awareness of the long-gone famine and to help out. Also, St Patrick is credited for bringing Christianity to Ireland, which most of my co-workers had no idea about. So while you guys are out getting drunk, toast a Slainte to the true meaning at least, please.

[bp_sweeney]

No one in Ireland is going to attack, hurt, or harass you in anyway for having a four leaf clover on your clothing, saying that makes the irish seem ignorant and belligerent. not cool.

[compuman]

the fourth leaf represents luck.its not a shamrock, its just a symbol of luck; and the true shamrock has a white stripe on each leaf.you have pictured a wood sorrel.

[lemonie]

The reality of "St Patrick's day" is "Guinness Day" or "let's dump a loads of green-dye in the river: that'd be really Irish wouldn't it - day". L

[Phil B]

If I am not mistaken, Patrick adopted the Shamrock (3 leaves) as an illustration of the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Four leaves would not fit.