A shamrock is a young sprig of clover, used as a symbol of Christianity in Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name shamrock comes from Irish seamróg, which is the diminutive of the Irish word for clover (seamair) and means simply "little clover" or "young clover".

Shamrock usually refers to either the species Trifolium dubium (lesser clover, Irish: seamair bhuí) or Trifolium repens (white clover, Irish: seamair bhán). However, other three-leaved plants—such as Medicago lupulina, Trifolium pratense, and Oxalis acetosella—are sometimes called shamrocks or clovers. The shamrock was traditionally used for its medicinal properties and was a popular motif in Victorian times.

Botanical species

There is still not a consensus over the precise botanical species of clover that is the "true" shamrock. John Gerard in his herbal of 1597 defined the shamrock as Trifolium pratense or Trifolium pratense flore albo, meaning Red or White Clover. He described the plant in English as 'Three leaved grasse' or 'Medow Trefoile', 'which are called in Irish Shamrockes'. The Irish botanist Caleb Threlkeld, writing in 1726 in his work entitled Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum or A Treatise on Native Irish Plants followed Gerard in identifying the shamrock as Trifolium pratense, calling it White Field Clover.

Shamrock was the fifth single released by the Japanese rock band, Uverworld. It was released on August 2, 2006. The limited pressing of the single has a DVD containing the video digest of their live performance from their Timeless Tour @ Shibuya-AX. It reached number six on the Oricon charts and sold approximately 97,091 copies. It was used as the drama Dance Drill's theme song.

The full version of the ringtone has reached platinum status in February 2010 since its download started on August 2, 2006.

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References

Shamrock is a city in Wheeler County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 2,029. The city is located in the eastern portion of the Texas Panhandle centered along the crossroads of Interstate 40 (formerly U.S. Route 66) and U.S. Route 83. It is 110 miles (180 km) east of Amarillo, 188 miles (303 km) west of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and 291 miles (468 km) northwest of Dallas.

History

Located in south central Wheeler County, Shamrock was the largest town in the county in the late 19th century. George and Dora Nickel consented to keep the first post office in their dugout there in 1890. The mail was to be carried once a week from Mobeetie. The neighbors decided to let George name the office. His Irish mother had told him always to depend on a shamrock to bring him good luck, so he suggested "Shamrock" for the name of the office. But when a mysterious fire destroyed his dugout, George Nickel's post office never opened. Mary Ruth Jones became Shamrock's first postmistress, running the Shamrock post office out of the Jones family home. In 1902 the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway set up a station in the town, calling it "Wheeler" like the county, but changing it back to the original name of Shamrock in 1903, which prompted the reopening of the Shamrock post office. By 1907, the town was competing with the towns of Story and Benonine as trade centers.