St. Patrick's Day: Traditions and Celebrations

If you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day, you get pinched, right? The day that has been widely associated with leprechauns, pots of gold, Irishmen, shamrocks and clovers, and the color green is upon us in a few short days. How many of you can say you know much about this very green holiday?

St. Patrick's Day is a long-standing tradition in the United States. The Irish holiday was originally a religious feasting day in honor of the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, but has today morphed into a celebration of Irish culture.

March 17 marks the anniversary of Saint Patrick's death, which occurred in the fifth century. Although widespread observation of the holiday in Ireland started as early as the 9th or 10th centuries, it was in America in 1762 that the first St. Patrick's Day parade was done. The participants were Irish soldiers in the English military, and the parade helped them re-identify with their heritage.

Due to increased Irish patriotism among American immigrants, many more parades sponsored by various Irish Aid programs sprung up. In 1848, several of these societies united and formed what is known as today as the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, and is the oldest civilian parade still held in the United States. Every year 150,000 participants line up and march a one and a half mile route while over 3 million spectators look on. Other large parades are held in Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Savannah.

In 1845, the Great Potato Famine happening in Ireland brought many immigrants to the States, and they weren't immediately accepted for their new and different accents and their unfamiliar religious practices. When the immigrants attempted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in their new home, they were depicted as drunk, violent, and rowdy by the newspapers, and a negative reputation stemmed from this coverage. However, because the number of Irish immigrants was growing, the group soon proved to be a powerful political swing vote, and the St. Patrick's Day parades became a symbol for Irish ethnic pride, as well as important and well-attended political events.

As immigrants spread throughout the country, old traditions followed, and new ones sprang up wherever the immigrants settled. One of these new traditions is the dyeing of the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day. The practice began in 1962, after pollution-control workers in the city had the idea to re-purpose the dye they were using to trace illegal hazardous waste in the river. Now, every year the river turns green for a few hours on March 17, but in the 1960s, so much dye was used that the river stayed green for several days.

The city of Savannah, Georgia swears that they were the first to have the idea to dye a river green for St. Patrick's Day. Savannah is home to the oldest St. Patrick's Day parade, which started in 1813. The claim is that in 1961, a hotel restaurant manager convinced the city to dye a nearby river green. When they attempted the feat, the river did not quite reach the vivid green color that Chicago regularly achieves. Rather, it turned a greenish blue color, and it was never attempted again. That same manager who asked the city of Savannah to try claims to have given the idea personally to the mayor of Chicago at that time.

The Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day.

The United States and Ireland aren't the only places that celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Other places are as far reaching as Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Russia.

St. Patrick's Day in Ireland has always been a religious holiday first and a party second. In fact, until the 1970s, Irish law rendered all pubs closed on March 17. The stereotypical intoxicated Irishman on St. Patrick's Day is a product of the American newspapers smearing the reputation of the Irish immigrants who celebrated the holiday in America for the first time. Today in Dublin, where Ireland has it's largest festival, one million people gather to celebrate. The festival lasts for days and includes events such as parades, concerts, and fireworks displays.

Today in America, it is estimated that about 34.7 million Americans can trace Irish in their ancestries, and that number is more than seven times the population of Ireland.

In America, the Irish and non-Irish alike celebrate St. Patrick's Day by wearing green, eating a traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage, and images of leprechauns, shamrocks, and pots of gold are plentiful. How did these things come to be associated with St. Patrick's Day?

The color green's association with the holiday stems from the "Emerald Isle" nickname for Ireland, which the country received based on its beautiful green and rolling countryside. The leprechaun figure is believed to be based in Celtic beliefs in fairies, where they are identified as tricksters who initiated their antics in order to protect their treasures, or pots of gold, as we now commonly accept. The shamrock's association comes all the way from Saint Patrick himself, who is said to have explained the Holy Trinity, a Christian religious principle identifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, with the three petals on a clover. As the symbol passed through the ages, it became a badge of identification and pride for the Irish.

The tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day didn't originate in Ireland, exactly, as is commonly believed. The Irish alternative to corned beef was called Irish bacon, which was a cut of pork similar to Canadian bacon. Irish immigrants in America found that corned beef was cheaper and tasted just as great, and made the dish easy to prepare in the same pot.

Join us in celebrating St. Patrick's Day at the museum. A party will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 15. Let's see who can catch a leprechaun! There will be gold coins all over the museum waiting to be found. And don't forget to wear green!