Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! A day to wear green, get drunk, and feast on corn beef and cabbage...at least if you're in the United States. I can't speak for how the day is celebrated outside of the States.
Last night, I was at a friend's house to celebrate. We had traditional corn beef with potatoes and carrots dowsed in Irish beer and watched classic 80s fantasy movies (which isn't traditional so much as just plain fun).
Honestly, I didn't realize how big of a celebration St. Patrick's Day was until I moved to New Jersey. They take today very seriously. Growing up, St. Patrick's Day wasn't that big of a deal. I just needed to make sure I was wearing some form of green to avoid getting pinched and in college, it was an excuse to buy overpriced beer that was dyed green. Plus it was fun to watch the Disney Channel Original Movie "Luck of the Irish" every year.
Heck, I got a text from one of my cousins laughing about how they forgot about the celebration - which shows how important St. Patrick's Day is to my family.
The difference from where I grew up and where I live now is likely ancestry. New York and New Jersey have a higher number of people of Irish decent. St. Patrick's Day became a way for the Irish immigrants to keep in touch with their roots. New York has a big parade and there are tons of websites letting people know where to go to get the most out of today's favorite drink: beer.
Though I think it's become more popular over the years with everyone because it's an excuse to party.
This history of St. Patrick's Day is a lot less about partying and more about religion. St. Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland and March 17th was the day set aside in the catholic calendar as a Feast Day for him. Feast days are days to honor a specific saint's martyrdom for Christianity and, in some regions, for people who were named for that specific saint (in place of a birthday, people celebrated "name" days).
St. Patrick was a Romano-British missionary to Ireland in the 4th century. He later became the bishop of the Emerald Isle and preformed many miracles in Christ's name, including banishing all snakes from the island. He was also known for using a shamrock as a visual symbol for the Holy Trinity and for having a walking stick which sprouted a living tree.
Though he did a lot of amazing things, partying wasn't one of them.
So, enjoy the day or weekend and try to fit a few thought in about the real life St. Patrick. New York is an awesome place to celebrate St. Patrick's Day as is Boston and Chicago (I hear they dye the river green there) or find the nearest Irish pub (a few of my cousins swear there's at least one in every major city around the world if you look hard enough).
If you're interested in the Irish experience in America and are in New York City, you might want to check out the Tenement Museum in the East Village. They have a lot of different tours, but a few are specific to the Irish experience.
Erin go bragh!
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Until next week.
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