From a Wall Street Journal column by Mike Kerrigan headlined “A Thousand Silent Farewells—the Irish goodbye is a great way to leave a party”:

As a proud Irish-American and lover of all things Gaelic, I have much to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day. And rightly so: The contributions to civilization by the sons and daughters of Éire are too many to count.

Let others praise for good cause the virtues of Yeats, Irish whiskey, Donegal tweed and the Chieftains. Today I celebrate a different, no less meaningful, Celtic benefaction: the Irish goodbye.