Shamrocks in The Irish Times Magazine

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mathepac

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I was disappointed to see widespread use of some strange quatrefoil or four-lobed leaf adorning the current edition of the Magazine. This device was given prominence on pages relating to our national feast day, St. Patrick's Day, traditionally celebrated on March 17th each year.

The symbol normally associated with our national saint's day is a trefoil, with a three-lobed leaf, specifically a shamrock- trefoil linkl - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trefoil

In the event that I have misunderstood the significance, religious, spiritual, national and botanical of the trefoil and its associations with Ireland, perhaps someone could enlighten me regarding the connections we Irish have with the four-lobed device used in the publication this week-end? This device represents a plant normally described as a clover, useful for feeding cattle and sheep and for fixing nitrogen levels in soil.

Is it that Ms. Kennedy's Womens Own crew lack Irish background, botanical nous, a big enough budget to buy stock images of shamrocks or just don't care?

By contrast, the Simpson's ad in the magazine contains properly rendered shamrocks, but then they're media professionals with at least 20 years experience.
 
perhaps someone could enlighten me regarding the connections we Irish have with the four-lobed device used in the publication this week-end? This device represents a plant normally described as a clover, useful for feeding cattle and sheep and for fixing nitrogen levels in soil.
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Shamrock is so pre-recession. These days we need all the luck we can get with four-leafed clovers.
 
Here's a good article on the distinction between 3-leaf "shamrocks" and 4-leaf clovers.

the significance invested in four leaf clovers pre-dates Christianity, going back to the pagan period, when four leaf clovers were Celtic charms.

Celtic dominance once extended across Ireland and much of Western Europe. It was the Druids (Celtic priests) who elevated four leaf clovers to the status of Celtic charms, allegedly potent against malevolent spirits. Their status as Celtic charms is the origin of the modern belief in their power to bestow good luck.
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Just part of the annoying mis-spellings I find in the magazine every week....2 weeks ago the TV guide referred to the new series "In Treatment" starring "Gabrielle Byrne" - not once, but 3 times! And repeated the error last week!

This weekend (apart from the mutant shamrocks!), the guide referred to the Simpsons show with "Colm Meany".....whoever he might be!
 
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