Montserrat: The Caribbeans Emerald Isle
Montserrat has endured 15 years of volcanic eruption yet this tiny island remains determinedly upbeat, says Maggie OSullivan.
Its St Patricks Day and Im in a bar. A fiddle is scratching out an Irish folk song and the crowd many with shamrocks painted on their faces joins in. But Im not in Dublin or an Irish bar in New York. Im in Montserrat. And no, I havent had one rum and Ting too many. There really is a giant leprechaun leaning against the bar.
There are only three places in the world where St Patricks Day is a public holiday: Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and this tiny British protectorate in the Lesser Antilles. But only on Montserrat do the celebrations last all week and include displays of African dance, a Freedom run and a slave feast.
The reason is to be found in the islands distant past. In the 17th century it was settled by Irish indentured servants fleeing from nearby Nevis. They were later joined by Catholic refugees from Virginia. Perhaps it reminded them of home as lush, green Montserrat nicknamed the Emerald Isle bears a striking resemblance to coastal Ireland . To this day, the national emblem is a carved shamrock, and the flag features a woman dressed in green holding a cross and a harp.
By the end of the 18th century, thousands of African slaves had been shipped in to work on the sugar plantations and when the slaves staged an unsuccessful uprising in 1768, they chose St Patricks Day on which to do it. And thats why, more than 250 years later, were singing a sentimental song about Ireland in memory of African slaves.
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2016-02-26
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