Dunstan complied, but recognizing the Devil, he could not pass up the chance to nail the shoe to Satan’s foot instead of that of his horse. For the film's initial release, the Irish sequences were printed on green-toned stock. One day the Devil entered Dunstan’s forge and asked him to shoe his horse. In addition to 'The Rose of Tralee,' the film's score included excerpts from a number of Irish traditional airs including 'Norah O'Neale,' 'The Leprechaun,' 'The Foggy Dew,' 'Garryowen,' and 'Irish Washer Woman'. The story of how a horseshoe nailed on the door (typically with the open end pointing skyward) has to do with the Devil himself.Īs the tale goes, Dunstan, a 10th-century saint and one time Archbishop of Canterbury, was a blacksmith before he found his calling. Lucky horseshoesĪlthough lucky horseshoes may not have originated in Ireland, they are prevalent in the Emerald Isle. Incidentally, while the four-leaf clover is considered to be particularly lucky, the three-leaf clover is also highly regarded in Ireland on account of it being a symbol of the holy trinity in the Christian religion. (Perhaps with the help of a glass or ten of Guinness or at least a few shots of absinthe). We are, after all, the luckiest nation, if the rumor is to be believed. Nowadays, the phrase ‘luck of the Irish’ is no longer an insult but a compliment many Irish people adore. In some quarters it is even believed that four-leaf clovers grant their finders the ability to see fairies. The Irish have weathered some serious storms throughout their colorful history, and although those events are not lucky, surviving them all as a nation has been.

Luck of the irish free online