Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CULTURE NOTE:
St. Patrick's, Shamrocks, and the “Luck of
the Irish”
On St. Patrick's Day, as the saying goes, everyone is Irish for a day. But how do people in
Ireland actually celebrate their national holiday? In many ways the local celebrations, es-
pecially in major cities, are similar to those around the world - parades, music, beer, and
large numbers of people dressed in green. Naturally, the Irish themselves are even more
excited about the day than those in other countries, and schools and businesses (except
bars and restaurants!) are generally closed for the festivities.
St. Patrick's Day festivities in Ireland vary tremendously from town to town. Dublin puts
on the biggest show in the country, of course, and the grandeur of the festivities attract
huge numbers of travelers. These travelers, though, affect the celebration pretty dramatic-
ally as the city attempts to give them the sort of experience that they're expecting - some
people consider this gaudy and inauthentic, and prefer to spend St. Patrick's Day in smal-
ler towns. For sheer spectacle, though, Dublin is hard to beat!
In smaller towns, especially those in the western counties, the celebration may be on a
smaller scale, but it's still fervent and full of life. Many of these towns actually have
two
separate parades
. One, held around dawn, sees smaller crowds (and almost no tourists)
turning out for traditional music and conversation before Mass. A second parade in the
late afternoon is more raucous and closer to what Americans and other outsiders are ac-
customed to. In the evenings, men and women crowd the local bars to sing, drink, and
celebrate their shared heritage.
But in addition to its status as a cultural festival and a day of revelry, St. Patrick's Day
is also one of the most important religious holidays in Ireland. St. Patrick himself, who
lived in the 5
th
century AD, was a child slave who became a missionary and, according
to legend, helped convert the Celts to Christianity by using a
shamrock
to explain the
concept of the Holy Trinity. This is why the shamrock, with three leaves, is among the na-
tional emblems of Ireland - the four-leaf clover, on the other hand, is a different plant that
has nothing to do with Ireland, contrary to the belief of some people in America. (Lucky
Charms cereal confused the two plants in 1964, and Americans have been repeating their
mistake ever since.)
