阿伦群岛三座岛中最小的伊尼希尔岛，爱尔兰戈尔韦湾 Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Ireland (© Chris Hill/Minden Pictures)

阿伦群岛三座岛中最小的伊尼希尔岛，爱尔兰戈尔韦湾 Inisheer, the smallest of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Ireland (© Chris Hill/Minden Pictures)

An emerald isle of the Emerald Isle

If you were to find yourself wandering across the tiny island of Inisheer on March 17, you'd almost certainly hear someone greet you with a hearty 'Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!' That's because nearly all the island's 260 residents would want to wish you a happy Saint Patrick's Day in their native Irish tongue. The smallest of the three Aran Islands that are strung across the mouth of Galway Bay in western Ireland has been inhabited from prehistory, with artifacts of Bronze Age, Pagan, Celtic, Early Christian, Norman-Irish, Pastoral, Maritime Navigational, and more recent settlements scattered around its 1,400 acres. The tiny drystone wall subdivisions of the fields are a result of a long tradition of splitting family farms between all the children. After a few generations, farms were reduced to the garden-size patches you can see here.

These days, the islanders are best-known for keeping the traditional language, music, art, and stories alive, so you can be sure that they're celebrating the day in style. And if you can't make it there today (or next year), you could always come back on June 14, when residents celebrate the island's patron saint, Saint Caomhán. Bonus: It's likely to be a little warmer and drier then, too.

翡翠岛中的翡翠岛

如果你发现自己在3月17日漫步在伊尼舍尔的小岛上，你几乎肯定会听到有人用一个丰盛的"莱菲勒·佩德拉格·索纳·德胡特"来问候你！这是因为岛上260名居民几乎都想用他们的爱尔兰语祝你圣帕特里克节快乐。在爱尔兰西部戈尔韦湾口的三个阿兰群岛中，最小的一个从史前就有人居住，青铜时代、异教徒、凯尔特人、早期基督教、诺曼-爱尔兰、牧区、海洋导航以及最近的定居点散落在其1，400英亩的土地上。田地中微小的干石墙部分是将家庭农场拆分给所有儿童的悠久传统的结果。几代人之后，农场被缩小到花园大小的补丁，你可以看到这里。

如今，岛民最出名的是保持传统语言、音乐、艺术和故事的活力，因此您可以确信他们正在以时尚方式庆祝这一天。如果你今天（或明年）不能到那里，你总是可以在6月14日回来，届时居民们会庆祝岛上的守护神圣卡曼。奖金：那时可能更暖和一些，更干燥一些。