St. Patrick's Day

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

St. Patrick's Day Traditions



Despite the fact that St. Patrick's Day is not an official holiday in the United States, it is celebrated widely. In Ireland it is viewed as a religious holiday, but in America it is a secular celebration of Irish Americans. Traditionally March 17 is a daylong celebration of all things Irish. All nationalities come together for this day and are "Irish."

There are many St. Patrick's Day traditions including parades, wearing green, drinking (green beer is a traditional beverage) and priding on the little bit of Irish that is in everyone. New York City, which has the largest Irish American population in the country, has the largest parade. Other major cities that host parades are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Kansas City. In addition to the annual parade in Chicago, the Chicago River is turned bright green for the day. Wearing green is a necessity on St. Patrick's Day or one runs the chance of being pinched by schoolmates, co-workers and family members. Many Irish Americans also try to get people to kiss them "because they're Irish." The shamrock is the symbol of St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick used the clover to explain the Christian concept of the Trinity (the three leaves representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with the stem representing the Godhead), which is why the shamrock is associated with the holiday.

Nowadays St. Patrick's Day is so deeply embedded in our culture that it has become tradition to send cards. Roughly 16 million St. Patrick's Day cards are bought each year making it the ninth largest card-sending occasion in the United States.

Click here for some St. Patrick's Day crafts, recipes and songs

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

St. Patrick's Day History



St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17. St. Patrick was born towards the end of the fourth century and died on March 17, around 460 A.D. He is known as the patron saint of Ireland and converted thousands of people to christianity during his thirty years of mission work. The Irish observe this day as a religious holiday, but in America, it is observed as more of a celebration of being Irish. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was in the United States in 1762. Irish soldiers serving in the English army initiated the parade and began the trend of celebrating this holiday in a patriotic manner. Even during times of poverty, Irish Americans celebrated St. Patrick's Day with parades and parties to the dislike of other Americans.

Nowadays, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in numerous countries around the world. In Ireland it is still a religious holiday and until 1995, pubs were not allowed to be open on St. Patrick's Day. In an effort to increase tourism, the Irish government encouraged people to visit Ireland over St. Patrick's Day and turned the holiday more into a celebration than a religious holiday. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin. The festival consisted of a multi-day celebration including parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions and fireworks shows.

Click here to take the Irish I.Q. quiz and see how educated you are on Ireland and its culture

Monday, November 15, 2004

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Orna Gafni


I am a student at the University of Michigan.





Orna Gafni, orna.gafni@gmail.com

The OC