St. Patrick’s Day has always been dear to my heart.
Growing up in Ireland, it was all about being able to watch the parade in our town.
The parade would have local kids, the local brass band, and certainly ten tractors.
We’d wear a big clump of shamrock. We’d go pick the shamrock from rocks the day before, and soak it in water over night.
What’s your plan for St. Patrick’s Day this year? Do you attend a local parade? Do you meet up with old Irish friends and family? Please leave your reply below.
More St. Patrick’s Day in the Irish Language
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35 thoughts on “What are you doing for St. Patrick’s Day?”
…they call their St. Patrick’s Day celebration a “Hooly”.
Excellent – have good safe fun, and I hope you enjoy it, Patrick.
I plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with my wife, family and friends at a local pub here in Michigan. Traditional Irish music, sing alongs, and food. I might even give some Irish Gaelic a go (Thanks for the audio tips in your latest post Eoin!). Staying clear of the big crowds of green-beer drinking clowns.
My wife and I travel to Dublin (Ohio) to be in the parade with our Irish Wolfhounds Maeve, Grace and Clare.
Wow, must be an interesting time. They’re a lovely breed of dog.
Hopefully I will marching in our St. Patrick’s Day Parade, wearing my green plaid Kilt, here in Granbury, Texas
Good man!
Every city in the world seems to be celebrating St. Paddy’s Day nowadays!. Great stuff.!. I can feel the Spring in the air already. The long dark winter is behind us the days are getting brighter and the sunny days are in front of us. It is a gay and colourful parade with all the green and gold and all the craic and shamrock. Every one enjoying themselves. I hope they get good weather in Ireland this year. Thank you Stephanie for the Irish breakfast info. I am looking forward to that myself this St. Patrick’s Day.! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone. Pádraig
Agreed, a Phádraig. It’s lovely having that bit of extra warmth in the springtime.
For our members, have a look at Bitesize Lesson: “Seasons and months” for a spring audio recording:
http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/lessons/seasons-months/
Will be joining the St. Patrick’s day parade (and what shenaningans may follow that) in Copenhagen where I live, with a bunch of Irish and Danish friends. Should be fun – was last year anyway, even if it was freezing cold, litteraly, hopefully spring will be here this year!
Hi Mette. Interesting to hear from Denmark. Hope you enjoy it.
My sentiments match closely those of Alan Scally although I am a fourth generation Irish American. Three quarters of my ancestors were emigrants due to the Great Hunger. The other fourth came a generation later. The last time I attended an Irish parade on St, Patrick’s Day was in New Orleans when I was hit with a cabbage and my glasses broken. I detest seeing it as an excuse for vulgar tee shirts and drunken forays. It is embarrassing. Spare me green colored rivers. I am sick of hearing demeaning Irish jokes and inferences of the Irish as crazy and alcohol sodden mortals. However, have a fun and sober St. Patrick’s Day.
What a pity that a lot of St Patrick’s Day has that down-side to it. On the bright side, it is our time to connect with our Irish heritage. Do it soberly, and have fun.
Patrick, they say, missed out on a formal education when he was herding sheep up in Antrim. For a man who had limited Latin and a substandard grasp of the Welsh language to be isolated in the Glens with Irish speakers he wasn’t such a bad communicator and he put them Druids in their place. I’ll be drinking in Honolulu and singing and generally doing all those things one expects an Irishman to be doing. Me Mother would be ashamed of me.
A long way from Ireland – enjoy the day!
It’s a bit different for me, since in my eyes Patrick was a barbaric man. It was he who forced many of the Druids into hiding, even going so far as destroying numerous books of the ancient Irish culture for being “too Pagan”…he personally burned 180. It is because of this that we know so little of our far ancestors, and even less about their beliefs before Christianity. Patrick is no saint in my opinion.
However, this doesn’t mean I don’t join in the festivities during this time of year, when we as Irish Americans celebrate our heritage, culture, and pride. I’ll celebrate by making a trip with a friend of mine to the local Irish Cultural Centre/pub, ordering our drinks in Gaeilge, and listening to uilleann pipes. There will also be a traditional Irish feast for dinner… 😀
I’ll agree that it’s a one-sided view (the post-St Patrick Christian Ireland). Although I’m not familiar with what he did as you refer to it.
Glad to hear you’ll be celebrating your Irish heritage.
> What’s your plan for St. Patrick’s Day this year? Do you attend a local parade?
Will practice saying Slánte.
Excellent. There’s an audio recording for Sláinte on our free lesson for St Patrick’s Day:
http://www.bitesizeirishgaelic.com/st-patricks-day
The first time I traveled “home” was in 1976. I went to the Dublin parade with my cousins and I would say there were more Americans than Irish in the parade! Back then, it was treated more as a religious holiday than an excuse to party. As a matter of fact, on Saint Pat’s Day 1976 I didn’t go to church just one, my dear aunt had me go TWICE! “Now, Robert Emmett, what will I tell your mother if I don’t get you to church?!”
Ah, those were the good old days!
Robert, interesting that you share that. It depends on who you talk to in Ireland. For some, it’s a religious holiday. For others it’s a time to see the parade. Whatever suits each person, I say.
I’m actually irish living in Ireland. Hilarious I’m learning to speak Irish from an American site. It’s the best site I’ve come across. I’m in the airport in Dublin heading to see my daughter in Denmark with an extra suitcase full of st. Patricks day goodies!! Including ‘mammy’a home made brown bread’. Xx margo
Margo, we focus on helping those outside of Ireland for sure. But we’re based in Luimneach/Limerick! The heart of midwest Ireland.
Enjoy your time in Denmark (those Viking invaders!!)
We moved here (Mayo) from the states in September, so this will be our first St. Partick’s Day in Ireland. Our town of Castlebar will have parades, of course, but on 16 March, not the 17th.
This year, on the 17th, our own Castlebar Mitchels will play at Páirc an Chrócaigh in the All-Ireland Final! We’ll be watching (and hopefully celebrating victory) with friends and enjoying all the decorations and festive atmosphere of the town. Best of luck, lads! Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!
Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona duitse freisin! You too!
Hope you have a blast at the Castlebar parade.
I find it, as a 1st generation American, an embarrassing caricature. Are we celebrating Cromwell’s invasion, the forced settlement of the Ulster Plantation, the Great Hunger, the occupation by the Brits, the 1981 Hunger Strike? Or what? I stay home so that I don’t mortally wound one of the fools reeling about the streets in a green plastic bowler who has no idea who Bobby Sands, Pearse, Connolly, Michael Collins, Bernadette Devlin-McAliskey are…enjoy yourselves. I only know I entered the Lower Falls Road in July, 1971, by passing through a razor-wired British checkpoint. Party on.
Alan – respect to you for sticking to your principles.
I live in Oklahoma, so not to big of an Irish influence.. I’m flying to Boston to watch their parade and see Dropkick Murphys!
That should be an amazing gig. Let us know how it goes.
It’s my son’s birthday! Shaun Patrick Dougherty born on March 17, 1980!
You picked the right name for him!
We go downtown and watch the parade every year. Full of dogs, fireman, little kids dancing, clowns, vendors. It’s a blast no matter how old you are!
Sounds like our one too. Hope you have a good day out Mary.
We moved in the spring of 2013 so this year we will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in a new town. I am excited to find out what plans they have in store. I certainly will be enjoying a full Irish Breakfast with a cup of Barry’s tea. It is the simple things for me :-).
Can’t say no to a full Irish breakfast and a cuppa tae. Thanks for sharing Stephanie.