糖心Vlog

Next week, when rivers and fountains are dyed green, parades are held, and green beer is served, people will be celebrating St. Patrick鈥檚 Day in a way that is as much American as it is Irish, according to 糖心Vlog Director of Irish Studies Howard Keeley, Ph.D. 鈥淭raditionally, St. Patrick鈥檚 Day in Ireland is a sober, religious holiday observed by the island鈥檚 Catholic and Protestant communities alike,鈥� said Keeley. 鈥淯ntil relatively recently, Irish law banned pubs from opening on March 17^th.鈥� Keeley reveals that while the Irish have honored St. Patrick, one of their聽threepatron saints, for centuries, St. Patrick’s Day became a public holiday only in 1903, when the entire island of Ireland was still under British rule. Ireland鈥檚 capital city, Dublin, did not inaugurate a St. Patrick鈥檚 Day parade until 1931. By contrast, most historians agree that the Charitable Irish Society of Boston鈥攁n immigrant association鈥攃reated the world鈥檚 first such parade in 1737. Keeley points out that the early nineteenth century saw significant numbers of impoverished Irish Catholics arrive in Savannah, Ga.聽聽Savannah鈥檚 St. Patrick鈥檚 Day Parade, which is now the second largest celebration in the U.S., dates back to 1831. 鈥淚t was organized by the Hibernian Society of Savannah, a benevolent group of Irish Protestants dedicated to aiding their less-fortunate fellow countrymen,鈥� Keeley explains. In general, the Irish in America have used March 17^th聽as a way to assert community pride and solidarity.聽聽Irish dominated the copper industry in Butte, Montana in the early twentieth century and Keeley points out that the Anaconda Mining Company would close many of its mines for the St. Patrick鈥檚 Day holiday. In Northeastern States, Keeley says, the evening of St. Patrick’s Day was long associated with dances, given for the many Irishwomen or “Bridgets” in domestic service from Boston to New York. 鈥淭he idea of large parades, street festivals, and parties for St. Patrick鈥檚 Day is fundamentally American,鈥� says Keeley. The Irish in Ireland are increasingly adopting the American model, however鈥攑artly in an attempt to make Ireland a March tourist-destination. Keeley concludes that St. Patrick鈥檚 Day is, to an important degree, a celebration of Irish-America; even as it acknowledges how Patrick, who was born in Britain, helped reshape Ireland, where he had been enslaved as a youth. From Savannah to Buenos Aires to Sydney, according to Keeley, the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is a major point of connection between Ireland and its “fifth province”: a term popular in Ireland for the millions of people of Irish descent throughout the world.