Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

What is an Irish pearl?

Dear Mr. Alice:

Top of the Mulligan t'ye! Can ye be tellin' me what be an Irish pearl? I am the missus of the leprechaun who hoards that legendary pot o' gold at the rainbow's end. Himself is thinking o' expanding his inventory & heard tell of an "Irish pearl." His jeweler friend couldna tell him, yet there you are: Himself has read it in an English book written in 1950! It tells of a brooch "imbedded with an Irish pearl"! Meself bein' a Margaret, & that meanin' "pearl," I'd be longin' to ken meself. A thousand shamrocks on ye, & may ye find the end of the rainbow opposite of ours & belongin' to our competitor!

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Maggie O'Leprechaun, the End of the Rainbow

Letters from little people usually go straight to the research elves. But they earn pocket money this time every year by spray-painting each other green and hiring out for St. Paddy's parties. At the moment, they're taking their post-celebration turpentine soak, so I guess I'm on my own here. By the way, I have specialists decoding that last benediction. Grandma Alice is sweeping up the thousand shamrocks. That's no problem. It's the "opposite end of the rainbow" stuff that has us leery. Or O'Leery, if ye prefer. What's the opposite of a pot of gold? I don't even want to think about it.

Michael Viney writes on ecology for the Irish Times (and not in dialect, I'm glad to say). He was plain gob-smacked to hear from this side of the pond on such an esoteric subject. But yer longin' to ken; Mike's glad to oblige.

In certain rivers in Ireland dwells a freshwater mussel known to science as Margaritafera margaritafera, commonly, the pearl mussel (as opposed to Ireland's pearl-less duck mussels and swan mussels -- which produce ducks? swans?). The slow-growing bivalves spend their formative years in the gills of obliging fish. When they're heavy enough to fall out, they settle into dark crevices in river bottoms, where they can live for as long as 100 years. If an irritant gets inside the shell, they spin layers of nacre around it, just as an oyster would. In the case of M. margaritafera, the nacre can be any color from white or lavender to muddy blue-green or pure black.

For you Scots out there, go back to the beginning of this story and substitute the word "Scotland" for "Ireland" and "Scottish" for "Irish," and the facts are just as true. The shellfish are found in other parts of Britain and Europe. In 1969 a Scotsman (with the luck of the Irish?) harvested a large lavender pearl near Aberdeen, now worth about a quarter of a million U.S. bucks, and the great Scottish Pearl Rush of '69 was on. It was a typical goose/golden egg scenario. The mussel's now an endangered species, and Margaritafera molesting is illegal everywhere in Europe. Maggie maggie is still poached, but she hasn't been harvested legally in 20 years. Marauding Romans and centuries of rich locals have favored Irish pearls, but they have never been sold much on the international market, despite the fact that the pearls are all natural, not cultured, which adds to heir value.

So, Maggie, if O'Hubby can find himself a big lustrous black Irish pearl, the O'Leprechauns'll be in clover. Or maybe in the Paddy O'Wagon, if he is caught.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks

Dear Mr. Alice:

Top of the Mulligan t'ye! Can ye be tellin' me what be an Irish pearl? I am the missus of the leprechaun who hoards that legendary pot o' gold at the rainbow's end. Himself is thinking o' expanding his inventory & heard tell of an "Irish pearl." His jeweler friend couldna tell him, yet there you are: Himself has read it in an English book written in 1950! It tells of a brooch "imbedded with an Irish pearl"! Meself bein' a Margaret, & that meanin' "pearl," I'd be longin' to ken meself. A thousand shamrocks on ye, & may ye find the end of the rainbow opposite of ours & belongin' to our competitor!

Sponsored
Sponsored

— Maggie O'Leprechaun, the End of the Rainbow

Letters from little people usually go straight to the research elves. But they earn pocket money this time every year by spray-painting each other green and hiring out for St. Paddy's parties. At the moment, they're taking their post-celebration turpentine soak, so I guess I'm on my own here. By the way, I have specialists decoding that last benediction. Grandma Alice is sweeping up the thousand shamrocks. That's no problem. It's the "opposite end of the rainbow" stuff that has us leery. Or O'Leery, if ye prefer. What's the opposite of a pot of gold? I don't even want to think about it.

Michael Viney writes on ecology for the Irish Times (and not in dialect, I'm glad to say). He was plain gob-smacked to hear from this side of the pond on such an esoteric subject. But yer longin' to ken; Mike's glad to oblige.

In certain rivers in Ireland dwells a freshwater mussel known to science as Margaritafera margaritafera, commonly, the pearl mussel (as opposed to Ireland's pearl-less duck mussels and swan mussels -- which produce ducks? swans?). The slow-growing bivalves spend their formative years in the gills of obliging fish. When they're heavy enough to fall out, they settle into dark crevices in river bottoms, where they can live for as long as 100 years. If an irritant gets inside the shell, they spin layers of nacre around it, just as an oyster would. In the case of M. margaritafera, the nacre can be any color from white or lavender to muddy blue-green or pure black.

For you Scots out there, go back to the beginning of this story and substitute the word "Scotland" for "Ireland" and "Scottish" for "Irish," and the facts are just as true. The shellfish are found in other parts of Britain and Europe. In 1969 a Scotsman (with the luck of the Irish?) harvested a large lavender pearl near Aberdeen, now worth about a quarter of a million U.S. bucks, and the great Scottish Pearl Rush of '69 was on. It was a typical goose/golden egg scenario. The mussel's now an endangered species, and Margaritafera molesting is illegal everywhere in Europe. Maggie maggie is still poached, but she hasn't been harvested legally in 20 years. Marauding Romans and centuries of rich locals have favored Irish pearls, but they have never been sold much on the international market, despite the fact that the pearls are all natural, not cultured, which adds to heir value.

So, Maggie, if O'Hubby can find himself a big lustrous black Irish pearl, the O'Leprechauns'll be in clover. Or maybe in the Paddy O'Wagon, if he is caught.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

20 Best Online Casinos USA For Real Money (2024 List)

USA Online Casinos: Top 20 Online Casino Sites of 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.